IT’S 2015! AHHHHHHHH!

Happy New Year!

And I hope your holidays were merry and bright, I’ve been on another planet because of crazy deadlines, finals, my obscene submission challenge, and of course the holidays themselves. Whatever happened to opening toys and playing in boxes on Christmas? Now I help with all the cooking and cleaning, and have less box-play-time. Sigh. But I guess that’s what getting older is all about.

Anyway, I made my goal by +1! I submitted 366 scripts/proposals last year, and let me tell you, it was NO easy task. Towards the end I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, and then I spent a few days in December email blasting my scripts out to anyone who would take them.

So, let’s check out my numbers!

Of the 366 scripts submitted in 2014 I have gotten 174 rejections, I’m waiting to hear about 165 scripts, and 25 of my projects have been selected. Of the 25 that got a yes, here’s how they broke down:

• 8 readings
• 10 productions
• 2 publications
• 3 workshops
• 1 conference
• 1 writers group

Considering that my success rate just based on the numbers is only 6% you might think that the challenge was a big fat failure, but I have to disagree. First off, I haven’t heard back from everyone, but also, and more importantly, I’m putting myself out there. When you put yourself out there you’re not going to get what you want every time, or even most of the time, at least not if you’re a playwright. And sure I got turned down a lot, but I also got some personal rejections that make me feel so good I consider them a win. My O’Neill rejection included a personal line on the bottom of their form letter! And yes, it is on my wall. For those of you who are curious it said:

“While your work did not move forward to the next round, we wanted to let you know that our readers expressed great admiration for UNDER THE GODS’ GOLDEN CLEATS. Thank you for sharing such quality work with us. We wish you the best!”

And there were others too. Rejections from dramaturges requesting additional scripts, and/or invitations to submit full scripts to a few conferences/companies that normally only take samples if you’re without an agent.

I also had some rough lessons. Twice I was notified of my acceptance days before the reading or production, and one of those productions cast a man dressed in drag instead of a woman as the script stipulated. Probably won’t be sending scripts out to those folks anymore.

And I had to reject a production myself this year, which was a little heartbreaking for me. We work so hard to get anyone to pay attention, and then when they do it still might not be the best timing or fit, and sometimes we have be the ones saying, “No thank you.” Oy, that is hard. But for me and the script it was for the best, and I think I left things with the company on a good note, and they’re excited to get more from me in the future.

Another hard lesson for me was realizing that even when I have a crazy goal of submitting 365 plays, I have to be selective in my submissions. Believe it or not, I don’t have time to do ALL The things, and realizing that I wouldn’t have time for certain prospects before I sent things in was helpful so I didn’t have to turn down even more things.

But now it’s a whole new year, with a whole set of new prospects. I will be submitting a lot, because I just don’t see a good reason why not to, but I will not be submitting 365 (or if I do it will be by accident!).

No, this year I want to keep up with all my projects and meet those deadlines. 2014 nearly gave me a heart attack, so I’m hoping to ease up on the stress without having a submission goal. I’ll post my tally throughout the year, and update my 2014 stats as I hear back from more of those 165 question mark submissions.

Tomorrow I’m posting about all the writing I did last year, so be sure to check back for that! And again, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It takes a village to raise a child, and this is also true for theater festivals. It takes a village. And so I’d like to introduce you to two additional badasses in the Loud & Unladylike village, Tonya Narvaez and Roxana Sorooshian!

Up on our tumblr page we have bios for both our phenomenal production manager, Tonya Narvaez AND our fantastic Literary Manager/Dramaturg Roxana Sorooshian! Click on through and read all about them! Also feel free to subscribe to our tumblr, so you stay up to date on all things Loud & Unladylike.

Announcements to come: our directors AND the 2016 submission details! Trust me, you don’t want to miss any it.

http://loudandunladylike.com/

Time for the big/scary news! My ten-minute play MOM’S HAM, finalist last season for Best of PlayGround, is a semi-finalist for Region 7 of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival! That means come mid-February, I’ll be up in Washington state for a week working on the play with a director and actors, attending workshops and panels at the conference, and finally watching my play presented on the final day of the festival! Being a semi-finalist also means that I could potentially become a finalist and have my work presented at the National Conference in Washington DC come April.

This is the first time I’ll be traveling specifically for my career, and I’m really looking forward to get this first trip under my belt. I sure hope the kids don’t mutiny in my absence…

As more info about the festival comes out I’ll post it here, and you best believe I’ll have all sorts of stories and pictures to share come festival time.

Happy Saturday!

Yesterday we announced a brand new theater festival coming to San Francisco: LOUD & UNLADYLIKE presented by DIVAfest! My partners in crime are Claire Rice and Tracy Held Potter, the three of us are writing brand new plays inspired by historical women. We have a top notch team all around, our Production Manager is Tonya Narvaez and out Literary Manger/Dramaturg is Roxana Sorooshian.

ALSO, for the 2016 festival we’ll be taking proposal submissions starting this January, a model we’re borrowing from the brilliant San Francisco Olympians Festival.

In the next few weeks we’ll have more and more announcements about the festival coming toward you, but for now know that we’ll run June 25-27, 2015 and July 9-11, 2015 at the EXIT Theatre.

For now, check out more about the festival on our tumblr page: http://loudandunladylike.tumblr.com/, click on the names of each writer to find out more about them or the historical lady they are using for inspiration!

Today I got some good news, it might be kind of a big deal, but I’m not 100% sure yet. And I hate to be vague, I just have to wait for official people to announce things before I can. And the news isn’t exactly what I’m talking about anyway, so forget what it could specifically be for a sec, and go with me… I got this good, potentially huge, news, and I… Well, at first I was slightly happy about it, and slowly that faded away until I felt guilty and sad and helpless and anxious, but mostly ashamed at having such a lame reaction.

Because I mean, IT’S GOOD NEWS! I SHOULD be excited. I should be singing from the rooftops and drinking champagne! But I don’t feel like that at all. And what’s worse is that I’m a total asshole for feeling this because there are a ton of people who didn’t get in. THEY deserve these feelings, not me. And me feeling them is really just a slap in their face.

This isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way. There was a week after I’d only been submitting plays for about six months or so when I got notified that I’d gotten a staged reading of one play and production of another in the same week. I wanted to crawl into the deepest darkest hole and die. And what is that about? These are things I want, these are things that I work HARD to get, but when they materialize it’s like I’ve seen a ghost, or just found out how I’ll eventually die, or something.

Since that first time I’ve had these feelings pop up ever so often, usually about twice a year, and usually after I find out something that will help my career as a writer. Eventually they dissipate, and I get used to my new surroundings, but then another big thing comes and boom, right back on my ass feeling cold and alone and ashamed.

Rejections on the other hand, roll off me like water. I expect to get rejected. Sure sometimes they sting for a minute, but if you’re going to get upset over every rejection you’re asking for a lot of pain, because rejection is practically the name of the playwriting game.

So, what’s wrong with me? Am I the only one who cowers in fear when opportunity knocks? Am I the biggest jerk in the world for not just feeling happy and proud? And, what I’d really like to know, am I the only one who ever feels like this?

Until I figure out how to solve this puzzle, I’ll put on my game face and count the days until the knot in my stomach unties itself. I WILL feel happy about this, I know it. Until then, fake it ‘til you make it, right?

How did December get here so fast? I was still sleeping off all that turkey! Sadly, whether you’re ready for it or not, it’s December 1st! This means that you only have TWO WEEK until Playwrights Foundation’s 5th Annual One-Minute Play Festival! The festival takes place December 15th and 16th at Brava Theater Center!

Over FIFTY Bay Area playwrights, TEN Bay Area directors, and a BOAT LOAD of Bay Area actors. Come and see the talent of the Bay Area put up on display!

Get your tickets here: http://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?t=tix&e=1f742d701335425a218b2a69c9a41a55

Tickets are $18 in advance, but $25 at the door. THE FESTIVAL SOLD OUT LAST YEAR!

So don’t miss your chance to see it! Get your tickets before they’re all gone.

A book I have a play in is available on Amazon! MY BODY is ready to be purchased -it makes a great Christmas present- today! So don’t delay, go and buy it. Really. Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Ten-Minute-Plays-2014-Minute/dp/1575258862/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417367035&sr=8-1&keywords=best+ten-minute+plays+2014.

I’m in a book!

The third and final week of the 2014 San Francisco Olympians Festival is here! Last chance to get your monster on! Don’t miss it!

Here’s some more info on the last four readings:

Week Three: Femme Fatales

Wednesday, November 19: Triple Threats – TONIGHT!

SIRENS or THE SISTERS SIRENE by Amelia Bethel and Christine Keating, directed by Libby Vega

The five Siren sisters have been maintaining chaos and bringing sexy back for millennia, but what happens when one sister longs for a new, less brutal, life? If you like sex and gore, with a sprinkle of mythological fervor, you’ll love The Sisters Sirene.

THE GRAEAE by Madeline Puccioni, directed by Libby Vega

The Three Graeae are the oldest goddesses in the world…so old they only have one eye and one tooth between them. Enyo’s the grumpiest, Deino is the best chef, and Pamphredo can still shape shift into a swan or a siren…sometimes both. Then she falls in love with Perseus, who will betray them all to find out where their sister Medusa lives…

HARPIES by Victoria Chong Der, directed by Libby Vega

Never mess with sisters.

Thursday, November 20: Dangerous Brains

SPHINX by Jeremy Geist, directed by Christine Keating

After Oedipus guesses the Sphinx’s riddle, the Sphinx’s writing staff desperately tries to come up with a new one.

November 21, 2014: Dangerous Beauty

MEDUSA or BEAUTY SECRETS * by Andrew Saito, directed by Rem Myers

Medusa, a Kim Kardashian-esque celebrity, has an accident that severely scars her face and head while filming her first major movie, playing Helen of Troy. She retreats into seclusion. Years later, Medusa takes a blind sculptor as her live-in lover. His brother, Percy, an Air Force veteran, soon visits. He recognizes Medusa from her former life, and decides to share her face with the world.

*Beauty Secrets by Andrew Saito was co-commissioned by the Cutting Ball Theater where Saito is the current Andrew Mellon Foundation Playwright in Residence.

November 22: Vagina Dentata

CHARYBDIS by Ashley Cowan, directed by Melinda Marks

It’s the night before Thanksgiving in an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. Only, things aren’t that anonymous when you’re starving and you run into your old high school classmates. So grab a snack and learn the tale of the lady who turned a sea monster for having an appetite.

ECHIDNA by Neil Higgins, directed by Melinda Marks

A serial killer is terrorizing San Francisco. Can gritty, play-by-his-own-rules Detective Argus stop the killer in time? Or has he finally met his match?

SCYLLA or DEATH BY THE HALF-DOZEN by Christian Simonsen, directed by Melinda Marks

Scylla is about to devour six of Odysseus’ battle-weary sailors. But instead of hungry reptilian jaws, each victim will see a vision of the one person in his life that inflicted – or received – the most pain. Are a woman’s tears really sharper than a serpent’s tooth?

The James Downing Theatre in Chicago will be producing my short Christmas play OY OY OY, MERRY CHRISTMAS! And I’m super excited! This will be the third year in a row that OY OY OY, MERRY CHRISTMAS! has been produced in a holiday show! Sadly, I won’t be making it out to Chicago for the show, but one day I hope to see it produced.

If you’re in the Chicago area, be sure to check out Father Zamboni’s Christmas Shorts December 5th and 6th at 7:30, and December 7th at 1:30. More info on their website: http://www.jamesdowningtheatre.com/

And if you DO make it out, let me know how it went! I love to hear about my plays’ adventures.

THE RED HOUSE MONSTER was this past Saturday, and it KILLED. I was so honored to be one of the artists involved with the night of theater presented by the San Francisco Olympians Festival this past Saturday (11/15).

THE RED HOUSE MONSTER was the first play up for the evening, and I was super nervous. I tend to write more comedic plays, and so I didn’t no how to gauge the audience’s reaction without laughter. Mind you, there was a few laughs, but it wasn’t constant, and it’s probably best that it wasn’t. I did get a few gasps though, and people were leaning in quite a bit. And after I had a lot of folks come up to me, most of them strangers, and tell me how creepy and good it was. So yay! I can’t take all the credit though, I had a FANTASTIC director, Ariel Craft. Ariel makes such strong choices and it shows in all the plays I’ve seen her direct. It was exciting to see her work up closer, and because of the short time frame we had to work with, I got to see her on super-fast-get-stuff-done mode, which was impressive beyond words. Needless to say, I hope very much that I get a chance to work with Ariel again!

Also, my cast. My cast rocked it out the house. I had Megan Briggs, Jan Gilbert, Maria Leigh, Eden Neuendorf, and Ron Talbot, and like Ariel, I can’t work to work with ALL of these folks again. They did so much work for me in such a short period of time, and the really did a beautiful job bringing these characters to life.

So huge thank you’d to Ariel, and all the lovely folks in my cast.

And then, we got to share the evening with a brand new play by Veronica Tjioe based on the Minotaur, THE STRING’S THE THING. It was wonderful to share the night with such a thoughtful, funny, smart play. I loved Veronica’s approach to her monster, and her cast, Kelvyn Mitchell, Sunee Kiernan, and Gabrielle Poccia, was charming and hilarious.

I found it interesting that as different as our plays were, they really went well together. They seem to speak to one another through metaphor, or perhaps through their opposing styles, and this conversation created one of the finest nights of theater that I’ve ever been a part of.

In the end, Geryon had met his match, and Veronia won my pie, but it was a fantastic night of theater, and we entertained the hell out of a whole room full of people, so what more can I really ask?

HUGE thank you to artistic director Stuart Bousel for letting me come back to the festival and write again, and the tremendous amount of work he puts in to make the festival possible. Also thank you Jeremy Cole, Cody Rishell, Victoria Larkowich, and Linda Huang. You guys make an incredible team, and you’ve put on one hell of a festival!

And the festival is still going! There are four more readings this week. For info about the yet-to-be-seen plays visit http://www.sfolympians.com/!

Hooray for theater!