The Life of a Writer

Dear friends,

Looking back on what I've actually done this week, I realized that other than editing a couple of short stories, I haven't done any actual WRITING.  For crying out loud!  I'm a writer!  Why am I not WRITING?  Well, let's see---

First, there's this garden that's shriveling up in our Texas heat and drought.  Tending to it, keeping it alive, takes time.

Then there are the kittehs.  We have a whole herd of these critters right now, and they take time--feeding, watering, scooping poop, buying food/litter, grooming (especially these two),  breaking up the skirmishes that occur on a daily basis, playing, cleaning up after them.  We do a LOT of cleaning up after them.  Aren't cats supposed to be CLEAN animals?

Then there are those things that LOOK like writing, but really aren't.  Like tending to blogs, for example.

There's this one----A Murder is Announced---where I feature a handful of small press and indie published mystery novels and their authors.

And this one---Earthly Gardener---my long-time garden blog where I post photos of the garden, talk about organic gardening and sometimes even guest posts from friends.  A recent one was about planting a pollinator garden.

And this one---Two Sisters 1930 Cottage---where I am chronicling our efforts to remodel an abandoned 1930s bungalow/cottage that we named "Two Sisters Cottage" after the former owners.

Isn't blogging writing?  Of course it is, but it seems I spend more time tweaking colors, fonts and wrangling other little bits 'n bobs of problems with them than I actually do writing them.  Then there's the promotion of them, getting the word out that you've actually written them.

What else?  Oh yes, there was the cover design work I did for my next published book, PRINCESS PRIMROSE & the CURSE OF THE BIG SLEEP---a crazy P.I. noirish fairy tale spoof mish-mash of at least five different tales turned on their heads---the novelization of my award-winning play.

Not to mention the last, final edits.

Here's the first cover, which friends and other authors said was too pretty.  I kinda liked it.  The little froggy is a clue to what the book's about, but otherwise, not.  I wanted to put the two sleuths on the cover somehow.

Then there was this one---book cover two.  I think it's a bit too dark and drab.  This is supposed to appeal to middle graders and those "tween" creatures, so it needs to be bright and colorful.  I kinda like that whole noirish P.I. vibey-thingy, but it's not quite there yet.

Book Cover Three.  Brighter and more colorful, for sure, but a bit too shabby chic for what I want.

Ah, now this is more like it.  Cover four, which one children's author said looks like a cross between the Lemony Snicket books and the Purple Fairy.  Hmmm, I'm kinda diggin' this one.  And that little bit of the castle that you can see through her magnifying glass?  TOTAL SERENDIPITY, due to a quirk in Photoshop.  Damn, I love it when things like that happen!

(By the way, that's  R. Rapunzel and S. White on the cover.)  I'm sure you're wondering, when will this book be OUT?   Soon, very soon!

In between all that frenzy, I read three new books, read samples of dozens more, made notes for my new mystery novel,  participated on at least six online list-servs and forums, posted links, tweeted a few things and yacked it up on Facebook.  Drank a lot of coffee.

Then, on Tuesday, I....LOL!

All I can say is I'm glad Husband loves to cook, or we'd all starve.

OK, so I didn't do any real WRITING this week.  But you know, this is what the life of a writer who decides to go the self-publishing (or indie publishing) route looks like. There are all those other things that you MUST do in addition to the writing. And it's so different from that fantasy we all had at one time about what it would be like when we were finally able to write full-time.

Maybe I'll start that new story next week.

Is she mocking me?  Looks like she's mocking me! 

Happy trails from La-La Land!

bobbi c.

All Things Writing Interview Today!

Dear friends,

If you get the chance, please visit my friend Kaye George's All Things Writing blog today, where she interviewed ME!  I KNOW, exciting, right?

Kaye was a tough interviewer, but asked questions that really made me think about my work.  And that's a good thing.

http://allthingswriting.blogspot.com/2012/07/interview-of-bobbi-chukran.html

And while you're at it, check out Kaye's excellent mystery series.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Sneak Peek! Cover Art for PRINCESS PRIMROSE & the CURSE OF THE BIG SLEEP

Dear friends,

This is the third cover I've done for my upcoming middle grade/'tweens book---PRINCESS PRIMROSE & the CURSE OF THE BIG SLEEP--From the Case Files of R. Rapunzel & S. White, In Service to Her Majesty, the Queen.

Yes, I should win an award for the longest titles in the world!  LOL.

The book is the novelization of one of my award-winning plays that I wrote a couple of years ago.  I couldn't leave those two crazy gals behind, so decided to turn the play into a series of books.  This is the first in the series.

 The artwork has morphed from showing a boring brown office door to a much brighter, colorful illustration featuring the two sleuths---S. White and R. Rapunzel.  In general, I probably need to flip them since I use Rapunzel's name first, but this is just a rough draft of the finished cover.

I can't decide if I love it or not enough to actually use it on the published book.  I'll have to ponder it a bit.  The thing about publishing e-books is that you need a color "cover" that's basically just an image that's used online.  It also has to show up well in black and white, which this one does.

 I'll probably go with this one, maybe with a few tweaks.  Once the cover is finalized, I have a few more edits to do on the text.  I also want to do some black and white line drawings for the inside, basically making it an illustrated chapter book.

From there,  it will go through my publishing committee (which consists of Me, Myself and I).  Bottom line---the book should be available for sale by the end of September, if not before.  I have to brush up (heh) on drawing witches, frogs, elves and other motley creatures.  :-D

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Taking the day off...

Enough said!  LOL

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Interview on No Wasted Ink

Check out my interview by Wendy Van Camp that appeared today on her No Wasted Ink writing blog.

http://nowastedink.com/2012/07/18/author-interview-bobbi-a-chukran

Thanks again, Wendy, for having me!

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

LONE STAR DEATH discounted on Amazon

Dear friends,

I was just notified that in their wisdom (and quirky marketing ways), Amazon has discounted my historical Texas mystery, LONE STAR DEATH, from $12.99 down to $9.35 with Free Super Saver Shipping if you buy at least $25 there.

http://www.amazon.com/Lone-Star-Death-Samantha-Emmeline/dp/1477673970

 So if you were on the corral fence, so to speak, about buying the paperback version, this would be a good time to do so.

And no, I don't know how long this price will last.  Wish I did!  Amazon didn't tell me nuthin'.  LOL.

Yeehaw!

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Don't you hate it when this happens? Dreamus Interruptus!

Peeps!

So, I dreamed that I was in some sort of week-long camp of some kind with a lot of girlfriends.  I'm not sure where it was, but the Queen was supposed to make an appearance, and she invited me to have tea with her.  Not only once, but TWICE in one day.  Of course, this set me all a-flutter with anticipation.

Alas, Husband woke me up before I could actually do that, but I did catch a glimpse of her across the way.  Don't you hate it when that happens?  I call it "dreamus interruptus."  Turns out, it was Queen Floribunda, from my work-in-progress.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't THE Queen. Because well, um, they look a bit different.  I'm pretty sure Queen Floribunda's hat is pointy at the top, and THE Queen's isn't.

So, what brought this on, you might ask?  Well, I'll tell ya.  Yesterday I got one of my Wild Hairs that I often get, and decided that I wanted to not only do the cover for my upcoming PRINCESS PRIMROSE & the CURSE OF THE BIG SLEEP middle grade novel, but I also wanted to do some inside illustrations. In essence, it would be turning it into an illustrated chapter book instead of just a book with a color cover.  I spent hours looking at book covers online, working through a  few cartoon tutorials and learned how to draw a puppy, alien, and zombie.  All much needed skills.

This isn't totally outrageous, since I do have an (mostly unused) art degree.  But two years ago I announced that I was retiring from art.  It often takes me a while to process things, and to "get it."  I finally "got it."  I was doing a lot of really different and crazy drawings back then, using simple things like marker and ink, then decided to turn them into ginormous paintings.  That's where I took a wrong turn.  I should have stuck to the drawings, because that's where my absurd sense of humor really comes out.  The paintings were interesting, and colorful, but how many of these can one person really hang in a very small house?  You get the picture.  Yes, I sold a few of them to creative types who appreciate an absurd sense of humor.  (Thank you again, Little Sister!)

So, here's one of them. Yeah, I know it's a crappy photo.  Deal with it.  The point is---aren't those strange?  In an endearing sort of way?   I think at the time I was fighting an infestation of squash beetles in my Earthly Garden. 

So....the point to this is, maybe I can do the drawings for my book.  The cover is the hardest part, because it needs to appeal to adults with money, and the kids who will be reading the book.   (And practically, it has to look good in teeny-tiny size because it'll be an e-book at first.)  But if I can pull this off, well, heck, the sky's the limit. 

Because in those old sketchbooks I also  have a parade of crazy clowns, a whole lot of punkin head creatures, witches, cats with wings, strange and wonderful characters of all sorts who would just LOVE to get out and cavort around in a story of their own.

BTW, PRINCESS PRIMROSE is the novelization of my award-winning play I wrote back a few years ago. It's a hilarious mash-up fairy tale spoof featuring my series sleuths--R. Rapunzel & S. White, In Service to her Majesty the Queen.

Stay 'tooned for further developments.

Happy trails from la-la land!

bobbi c.

Looking for a Christmas Play?

Dear friends,

I just uploaded a long sample of my DOT & the (AMAZING TECHNICOLOR) QUEST FOR THE REAL SANTA CLAUSE on my website.  DOT is one of my family-friendly, award-winning comedy plays that has yet to have a production.  So it's a BRAND NEW, original play.  How about premiering it at your school or theatre?

Click on the title to see more information about the play and to download the PDF file.  I'll be happy to answer questions about royalty rates (affordable!), just e-mail me.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

How to make a book trailer

Dear friends,

I'm pleased as punch at all the wonderful messages and such I'm getting today about my new book trailer for LONE STAR DEATH.  In general, the reviews are good and I've had quite a few views overnight.  And some even think that the "silent movie" treatment suits the book.  That's great, because I've still to figure out how to put audio with the thing.  Still, it was a first project, is a tad rough, but it did strike a fire in me to do more of them.

I've always loved multi-media projects.  Back in school, I was always the kiss-up who begged the teacher to let me run the film projector.  One of my projects for Speech class was a "multi-media extravaganza" using an opaque projector, cheap tape recorder, a poster and hand-outs.  LOL.  In college, while studying for my Early Childhood Education certificate (before my art degree), I took a few courses in multi-media where I got to play with bigger, fancier equipment.

Then, when I was chosen to set up one of the first Macintosh networks in Austin, I really had fun.  And recently, I've discovered GarageBand, iMovie, iTunes---and it's all multi-media again, just a bit more high-tech this time.

I had sort of forgotten about all this until I started messing around with Powerpoint two days ago.  I worked for Microsoft back when they first bought Powerpoint, and I have to say that it's been greatly improved since then.  It's still buggy as hell (LOL) but still fun to use for slide shows, etc.

So, this morning everyone's asking me HOW I made my book trailer.  Here's the short version:

It's not that hard to do--unless you want music in it.  Let's just say I'm a bit balder today from that audio thang.

Write a short script for the text, distilling your story into as few words as possible.  Mine is a tad long, but nobody's complaining much, yet, so I'll leave it for now.  The longer, though, the more memory it gobbles, so that's one consideration.  Audio also gobbles a LOT of memory.

Use Powerpoint and make a slide show, adding text, photos, pictures, whatever.  Then save it as a movie, and upload to YouTube.  That's the simplified version.

The long version-----insert where needed---pull at  your hair, go find some snacks, open a bottle of wine, drink a little, eat a little, drink some more, go yell at the cats who are scratching at the door wondering what all the strange noises are, go gobble down dinner, drink a little more wine----repeat.  Oh yes, and there was cursing.  Lots of cursing.

 The only step I didn't take, and should have, was to ingest massive quantities of chocolate. 

Maybe I'll try that today. 

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Lone Star Death Slide Show

Lone Star Death by B. A. Neal

More PowerPoint presentations from bobbi chukran

Little Red Riding Boots is a Winner!

I'm pleased to announce that my LITTLE RED RIDING BOOTS & COOTER COYOTE, MASTER OF DISGUISE play won FIRST PLACE as well as AUDIENCE FAVORITE in the recent production in Williston, ND. 

The Summer Shorts 7: Animal Antics Festival, sponsored by Youth Education On Stage was directed by Jack Dyville.

LITTLE RED BOOTS is my Texas-style, insane crazy adaption of the Little Red Riding Hood story, except with a wiley coyote, a talking horse, fried chicken and an armadillo Sheriff ("Matt Dillo" natcherly).   As they say about most of my fairy tale mish-mashes, this ain't yo mama's fairy story!


Thanks to Jack Dyville, Director, and all the wonderful cast.

By the way, LITTLE RED BOOTS is available for productions right now.  Just e-mail me for details.


Happy trails!


bobbi c.

Now available in Print! Lone Star Death

For lovers of horse mysteries with feisty young female sleuths!

https://www.createspace.com/3910806

Now available in print

Self-Publishing is a whole new thing!

I'm publishing printed copies of LONE STAR DEATH for sale to libraries, schools, and of course, anyone who wants one. :-)  It's been quite an education going from a very old Word document, to a Kindle e-book format, to a Nook format, and now to a printed digital printed-on-demand format.

I published the trade paperback book through Createspace, Amazon's print-on-demand company.  Over all, it was a very easy process, and I'm still blown away by the idea that I can submit it today and get a finished paperback book next week.  WITH full color cover.  Amazing.  Technology has finally caught up to me.  Now all those finished books and manuscripts sitting in my drawer can see the light of day.

 I had to scramble around and design a logo to put on the cover, and came up with this simple design:

Publishing the first e-book is always the most complicated.  If I did dozens everyday, I could do it a lot faster.  But I've learned so much in the last month, I feel like my brain has been stretched.  
Next thing, I'm teaching myself to do book trailers.  Piece o' cake, right?  LOL!

The whole field of digital publishing  has given many authors a new way to get their writing out there.   And with print-on-demand, there are no returns, no wasted paper, no books sitting around in cartons collecting dust.

Amazing stuff, this e-publishing!

Oh, by the way, as soon as I get a copy of the printed cover, I'll post it.  It's different from the e-book cover, but still has that familiar horse on it.  :-D

Happy trails from Texas! 
bobbi c.
Lone Star Death
Available in Kindle, Nook and Printed editions (coming soon)

Featured on Literary Austin

I was pleased to see that I and my new book, Lone Star Death, are featured this week on Literary Austin. Thanks to Allyson Whipple for having me!

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

And the Doctor said...

Quote for the Day

"You want weapons? We're in a library.  Books!  Best weapons in the world!  This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself1"

--Doctor Who

One Little Thing---A free mystery short story

Mystery writers can be strange.  It's just the way we're drawn.  On one of my online listservs, we've been talking about the logistics of how to hide a body in a septic tank, a landfill or some other not-easily-located place.  On another list, we're talking about amateur sleuths and what bugs us about them.  I can't help myself sometimes; I just have that Inner Spoof thing going and this stuff has gotta come out!  When a member of the group mentioned the time worn idea that the amateur sleuth finds way too many bodies, this short story came to me.  Enjoy!  And yes, it's a spoof, and yes, it's the brand new, unedited version.  :-)

Happy trails y'all!

bobbi c./b.a. neal

http://bobbichukran.com

 -----

One Little Thing

By  B. A. Neal

“Aren’t you the one that found that body last year?  The one stuffed into the septic tank at that old farmhouse?” the Sheriff asked her.

“Well, yes, Sheriff, as a matter of fact, that was me,” she answered, modestly.

“And here you are again—right in the middle of another big mess!  How do you explain that?” he asked.

“I just have the knack, I guess.” She shrugged.

“Either that, or you’re the killer!”  He looked her up and down, suspiciously.

She smiled. “Who, me?  I’m just a little old lady who loves to knit.  I saw all the lights and thought I’d come over and check it out.  I’ll go back home now, if you don’t need my help.  I need to get two more rows finished on this damned afghan before bedtime.”

“No, we don’t need your help. Please go home.  We're the experts here."

She started to walk away, then stopped. “There is just this one little thing….” 

The End

--------------

Animal Antics! in Williston, North Dakota

Anybody near Williston, ND on the 19th through the 21st of this month?  That's coming up soon, folks!

If so, go see my LITTLE RED BOOTS & COOTER COYOTE, MASTER OF DISGUISE play at the Old Armory Theatre.  Wish I could be there, but I can't! 

Summer Shorts 7: Animal Antics, Youth Education On Stage, Williston ND June 19-20-21, 2012, directed by Jack Dyville.

LITTLE RED BOOTS is my Texas-style, insane crazy adaption of the Little Red Riding Hood story, except with a wiley coyote, a talking horse, fried chicken and an armadillo Sheriff ("Matt Dillo" natcherly).   As they say about most of my fairy tale mish-mashes, this ain't yo mama's fairy story!

Good luck to the cast, and break some legs!  :-)

Yeehaw!

bobbi c.

Writing is not a linear activity.

An oldie but goodie, reprinted from my previous writing blog......

Being a writer doesn't feel like you think it will...

When I was ten years old, writing my first poetry and submitting them to contests, I'm not sure what I thought the life of a "real" writer would be like. All I knew was that I loved to write, and wanted to do a lot of it. I don't really remember a lot more of how I felt back then.

But as I got older, perhaps a starry-eyed teenager, I guess I formed a picture in my mind of what it would be like when I finally became published, became well-known, or at least, well-read by intellectual types. Maybe I would sit at a wonderful old oak roll top desk, with a little lamp on the corner sporting a cheerful green glass shade. I thought I'd be sitting at that desk all day with an old typewriter clacking out page after page of wonderful Stuff. Or I'd be sitting by a crackling fire, sipping cognac, pondering Great Thoughts.

When it came time to go to college, I decided to major in art. To this day I wish ONE person had said “You have talent. You should write.” It took years of frustration trying to sell my artwork before I started writing about it instead and stumbled onto a whole new path.

Well, you know what? I finally got published. And it was NOT the way I thought it would be. My first desk was a fold-up, rickety card table in the corner of my bedroom in a low-rent apartment. I had an electric typewriter by then, but produced a manuscript using plain white paper and a lot of White-Out.

My first advance for a 250-page book was $500. In those days, that paid about two month’s rent and a few bills. Over the next few years, the royalties weren't much more than that. But I didn't care; I was published!

My first books were dry, dull, resource guides that took hours and hours of research and correspondence. After twenty plus years, even that got old, and my old dream started nibbling at the corners of my mind. To tell stories--that was the dream.

You think you’ll sit down, and begin at the beginning, and write a story from beginning to end. You think that if you have your little stack of color-coded index cards, that you’ll have your plot all worked out, nice and neat. Little do you know that once you put two characters in a room alone, they’ll start a conversation and pass you by so fast your head will spin. You’ll have no control over them, what they say or do. You’ll be freaked out about this, but go with it.

You won’t have set hours to work. You’ll feel like crap all day, have a cup of tea at 5pm, then next you know it’s 4am, you’re freezing, and you have a stack of pages beside you. You have no idea what you wrote, or where it came from.

You feel Out of Control. You are a writer.

You think that you’ll “dream up” the beginning of a story, and if you keep working on it, you’ll work straight through from beginning to end. Nope. Doesn’t work that way. The first inkling you have of a story might be a snippet of conversation you hear over breakfast in the neighborhood diner…”…after my first son was born, I had a flap of skin that hung down to the floor, honey…” Take that and go with it. Turn it into a character. Write about her, then see what she wants to do. Or it might be a news story you hear in passing about a mutant rodent. Go with it.

Here’s the Big Secret that it took me years to learn. You don’t always start at the first sentence. Writing is not a linear activity, it’s more of a spiral thing. It’s organic, it grows, a little this way, a little out that way. You don’t have to know the ending until you get there! Wow, what a mind-boggling idea that is!

I sure wish I’d known this before the age of 50. I think it would have helped me be a little freer with my writing and get to the authentic stuff before now. I would have written more without having to know the first sentence. I would have paid better attention to the folks in the back corners of old diners.

Here’s the other Big Secret…you are not in control. Not really. You are a writer.

Bobbi A. Chukran
Copyright 2010

Now available for the Nook on Barnes & Noble

Less than 2 days later, my novel Lone Star Death went live and for sale on Barnes & Noble, in Nook e-book format.  Click on the links below to be magically whisked away to the Amazon.com or the Barnes & Noble sites where you can read free samples of the book, or to order. :-)

 

Purchase from Barnes & Noble for the Nook

Purchase from Amazon.com for the Kindle

Happy trails from Texas!  bobbi c.

AKA "B.A. Neal"

LONE STAR DEATH for the Nook!

Dear peeps,

After a lot of hair-pulling, cussin' and cursin', I finally got my new mystery novel, Lone Star Death, formatted correctly and uploaded to the Barnes & Noble website (in spite of hours of "technical difficulties" where I wasn't sure if it was something I did, or something really wrong with their system.  Yep, it was THEM. :-) )

Hopefully, within 24 to 72-hours, it will be published and available to buy there for the Nook.  Yay!

It's a minor thing in the grand scheme of things, but a milestone for me.  It's been years since any of my printed (on paper!) books have been for sale in the Barnes and Noble stores.  I'm just glad I'm able to make the book available for the folks who have Nooks AND Kindles.

And since I still love holding books in my hot little hands, AND love seeing my books on library shelves, I'll be signing up with CreateSpace to make that happen.  Soon, very soon.

Ginger Snap Ann says "You can't sit on an e-book, dagnabbit! Whassup with THAT?"

Baby steps, people, baby steps!

Happy trails from Texas--
bobbi c.
http://bobbichukran.com

LONE STAR DEATH--now available!

Now available for sale on Amazon.com, for the Kindle. 
BUY LONE STAR DEATH here.

And remember, you don't have to own a Kindle to read Kindle books.  You can download free reading software on Amazon.com.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Lone Star Death---new title!

My Texas historical murder mystery, LONE STAR STATE OF DEATH, published back in 2006,  has a new title, new cover, and a new author!  Well, not exactly a new author.  Same ol' author (me!), with a new name.

For some time now I've been pondering using a pseudonym on the updated Kindle e-book version of this book.  I finally decided on B. A. Neal, my maiden name, and a little more generic.  Also, easier to spell and pronounce.  :-)

Since the book is totally updated, I wanted a new title, something that would set it apart from the previous version and be a bit shorter.  I pondered many hours over this, and finally came up with LONE STAR DEATH.  Close enough to the old name to be found by Google, but different.

As for the cover, I've always loved that photo of the horse, but wanted something a bit more "western-ish" in design and color.  Luckily, I have an art, graphics and publishing background and was able to easily redesign it.  Using a little Photoshop Elements magic, here's the new cover I came up with:

The plot and characters are the same.  The new version takes care of some pesky typos and formatting errors that ended up in the original one.  I also fixed the problem of the doctor whose eye color changed from chapter to chapter!  LOL

To read a synopsis of the book, read about my inspiration for the book and a little background, check out the book's blog, here.


I'll post more news when the book is available for sale on Amazon.  Hopefully, that will be within the next week!

The book is now live, and available for purchase!

BUY LONE STAR DEATH

This book has been through an exciting adventure since I first wrote it sixteen years ago, and I'm happy to see it available once again, this time for the Kindle.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Maybe you quit too soon, she said.

I was surprised the other day when some new friends mentioned that they didn't know I was an artist.  After all, I've been working at trying to sell my art for over 35 years.  Yikes, that's a long time. 

Here I am, back a few years ago, with one of my mixed-media paintings in the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center Permanent Art collection.  They specifically looked for local artists when commissioning the art, and since I lived very near there, I was honored to be a part of it.

 I told my woeful tale of how hard it is to make a living as an artist, much less get by.  And I told them how frustrating and depressing it was to watch the art pile up, year after year.  I admitted that I had *officially retired* from the art business two years ago, and was now concentrating on my writing.

The installation of my three pieces, in their own beautiful niches, in the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center

As I looked at my new friends' amazing art collection that includes sculpture, paintings, prints and outsider folk art, I commented that I always heard that there were people who loved art, and collected lots of it, but I had NEVER, in all those years, ever met any of them.  Isn't that strange?

One of them (thanks, Ms. P!) later said "Maybe you quit too soon."  Hmmm.  Ever since then, I've been thinking about the incredible amount of artwork I've created over the years.  I've worked in almost every media imaginable. Before we moved, I'll admit I either destroyed or gave away a good bit of my collection.  I'm sure some would think that's horrible.  But my new home is much smaller than our previous home, and my office doesn't even have a closet.  In the back of my mind, maybe I was thinking that the small cottage out back of our house *might* possibly become an art studio one day, once it's protected against the elements.  I made the conscious decision to spend full-time writing.  After all, I had ALSO been writing all those years.

I do have digital photos of most of my artwork, and for me, that's OK.  Many artists, I've learned, periodically destroy some of their art.  Another new Taylor friend, also an artist, told me to keep one good piece from each of my new directions.  I liked that advice, and so did keep a dozen or so pieces. Will I regret destroying those others?  Time will tell, but in general, I very rarely regret my actions.

"Sun in a Circle" Abstract Painting on Paper

As I looked through the photos, I made the decision to add a new page to my official website for samples of my artwork.  In general, it reminds me that all those years I spent weren't wasted, that some beauty came out of them, and many people did see my paintings and such--even if they don't own them.  That's the beauty of the Internet and digital images.  And since I do have digital images, the artwork can still be shared over and over, and even printed if I choose.

Right now, I'm happy writing full-time, because our house remodeling project, and my new garden design (yes, we do all our own work), have been taking up any extra time I have.  Once we're settled in, though, I expect I'll be eyeing that space out in the cottage and dreaming of a new work space, and maybe even a painting area.

Actually, come to think of it, I have written poetry about painting, and about art.  Can I separate the two, without feeling that I'm missing something?  Maybe someday I can find a *satisfying* way to combine the two.  I hope so.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Southern Humorist Featured Columnist

I'm a featured columnist over on the Southern Humorist website with my "The Good, The Bad & the Naughty" story about snails in the garden.  Check it out! 

http://www.southernhumorists.com/chukran.htm

And while you're there, check out some of the other writers, too.  Funny stuff!

Happy trails (snails?) from Texas!

bobbi c.

Edgar Allan Poe Short Story Published!

My fun Edgar Allan Poe short story I mentioned a few weeks ago was published today.  Take a peek, and enjoy!

http://kingsriverlife.com/05/12/edgar-allan-virginia-forevermore/

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

LITTLE RED RIDING BOOTS MADE IT!

Dear friends,

My comedy fairy tale mash-up  play, LITTLE RED RIDING BOOTS & COOTER COYOTE, MASTER OF DISGUISE, made it into the YES competition this year! YEEEHAW!  Here's the official announcement, with a list of the other plays that made it---written by several of my online playwright buds, and directed by Jack Dyville.

Youth Education On Stage announces the selection of Our 2012 SUMMER SHORTS: "Animal Antics" to be produced in Williston, North Dakota at the Old Armory Theatre June 19-20-21.

 ARCTIC AFTERNOON by Christine Emmert (Valley Forge PA)
 HISS HISS KISS KISS by Marjorie Conn (Asbury Park NJ)
 LIONS & TIGERS & BEARS, OH MY! by Shirley King (Benicia CA)
 THE DOG & THE GIRAFFE by Katie Labhan (New York, NY)
 THE FLEAS WHO FLED THE FUR by Marti Johnson (Seaside OR)
THE NEW ADVENTURES of KATIE KITTY! by Jack Dyville (Guttenberg NJ)
WHISKERS LEARNS A LESSON by Martha Patterson (Boston MA)

My play ANNIERELLA & the (VERY AWESOME) GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER was in this competition back in 2009, where it won First Place and was subsequently published by Brooklyn Publishers.

LITTLE RED RIDING BOOTS started out about five years ago as a  children's picture book, then turned into a play.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Flash fiction, anyone?

Dear friends,

I'm not sure why, but the older I get, the more frustrated I get with long books or stories.  Maybe it's because of all the blogging I do, or because I'm so busy that by the time I get a chance to sit down and read, I'm exhausted and can't stay awake!

Recently, I've realized that my best work tends to be short--both my plays and my stories.  I discovered *flash fiction* a few years ago, have just discovered *flash memoirs* and have to say that I'm really excited about some of the stuff I'm reading out there.

I have had two short flash stories published online, at the Clockwise Cat blog.  Check 'em out, HERE. The editor called them "absurd" fiction, which I found interesting.  I call it quirky-strange fiction, maybe even a bit macabre.  OK with me!  LOL.

Here's a short garden story I wrote.  Actually, I guess it's a "flash memoir" because it really did happen.  Hope you enjoy reading "Help!  Mantis Attack!"

I love taking a snippet of conversation, an observation about a quirky character I see, or an idea, and running with it.  I had one of these flashes of inspiration yesterday while sitting in the garden, dripping with sweat, covered with mud, listening to the chaos from a house down the street from us.  Seems they decided to cut down a pecan tree.  That idea, coupled with a chance comment a friend of mine made last week, turned into the draft of a short story that I hope will be a good one.  If not good, then at least amusing. :-)

As I practice writing flash/short fiction, I look around the 'net for great examples of other stories.  I learn more by reading fiction by others than I ever have from how-to books.  (I'm still trying to find the ultimate how-to-write-flash-genre-fiction book.  So far, no luck.)

This morning I ran into the new (to me) WIGLEAF website that focuses on  (very) short fiction.  Lots of good stuff there and great artwork, too.

If you have never read any flash fiction, I suggest you "do a Google" for "flash fiction stories" and go from there.  There are thousands of great short stories online for you to read--for FREE!  AND great collections of them for sale inexpensively on Amazon.com.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Dark Shadows and Vampires

 

I can truthfully say that I've been a fan of DARK SHADOWS since I was ten years old.  It first showed up on TV waaaay back in 1966 and ran for five years, until 1971.  A gothic soap opera, the likes of which nobody had ever seen, titillated and thrilled with the story line that included vampires, werewolves, witches and dare I say---leviathans!

I was one of those rabid fans, and had a serious crush on Jonathan Frid, who played the vampire Barnabas Collins.  Sadly, he recently died on Friday, April 13th, at the age of 87---RIP.  I'm sure I wasn't the only young girl who sent away and anxiously awaited the free fan photo.  It finally came in the mail, and had a constant place under my pillow at night.

Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins

On the days when our school bus was delayed (my memory is a bit sketchy at the reason), my mother would tape the show on an ancient reel-to-reel tape recorder, and I'd listen to the audio later that night.  Those were back in the days before VCRs, and it took a lot of imagination sometimes to figure out what exactly was happening in the scene---all those dreaded, heavy silences drove me mad--wondering.

 I obsessively collected the novels and read them under blanket cover late at night, scaring the bejeebers out of  me.  They were written by gothic novelist W. E. Daniel "Dan" Ross under the pseudonym Marilyn Ross (his wife's name).

I recently learned that two former actresses on the series have their own novels based on the show--Lara Parker (who played Angelique) and Kathryn Leigh Scott (who played Josette).  And I even developed a crush on David Selby, who played the werewolf Quentin Collins.  How could anyone resist those sideburns?

David Selby as Quentin Collins, werewolf

I also had his fan photo, and it lay safely under my pillow, along with Barnabas'.

And oh!  That music!  There was something about that haunting, eerie music.  I bought the record album (remember those?) and played it over and over.  I still have that album, forty-six years later!  According to Wikipedia, the original soundtrack made the top 20 on the Billboard national  chart in 1969 and still ranks as one of the top-selling TV soundtracks ever.

Well!  Let me just announce right here that I was beside myself with joy---giddy, one might say, when I heard that there would be a new DARK SHADOWS movie.  And I was even more excited when I heard that none other than Tim Burton would be directing it.  I've been a fan of his work from the get-go, and knew that something special would come of it.   Then to find out that Johnny Depp would play Barnabas?  I tell ya, that was a swoonable moment.  Not to mention the lovely Ms. Pfeiffer.

Johnny Depp and the cast of the DARK SHADOWS movie

When I saw the first trailer, I was blown away.  WHAT?  A SPOOF?  of my beloved DARK SHADOWS!  Yes!  It totally works!  I love the idea.  I, ahem, recently wrote my own vampire spoof, THE JOURNAL OF MINA HARKER, and am totally delighted that the writers and director decided to play it this way.  After all, there are many who say that the original show was played a bit tongue-in-cheek anyway.  (Oh come on, yes it was!)

If you go back and watch the show on DVDs (yes, of course I own them!), you just have to laugh.  At the time, of course, I didn't see it as funny--it was serious stuff.   I've been watching the trailers over and over, and I cannot wait to see the movie.  Stay tuned for a review, right here!

In the meantime, listen to this interview of the writer, Seth Grahame-Smith.  BTW, he also penned the script for the new ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER movie coming out in June.

RIP, Jonathan.

But in the meantime, won't you meet me down at the Blue Whale, where we'll hoist a pint of ale (or root beer) in honor of the original DARK SHADOWS cast.

 In memory of those who have crossed.  Or have they?  ;-)

 (Cue the howling wolf. Cue flapping wings.)

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Dracula ala Mel Brooks!

   If you laughed at "Young Frankenstein," you'll love this twisted take on DRACULA.
http://amzn.to/ItLBH6   The plot and characters are straight out of Bram Stoker but with a wickedly funny slant. Renfield is a scream! The only thing better than reading this play script would be seeing a production.
--From a review on Amazon.com

Short Story Published!

Dear friends,

I found out last night that my short story "Edgar Allan & Virginia, Forevermore" will be published in the May 12th edition of King's River Life magazine.  Great timing, since The Raven movie is also out now!  It's a story about those who live with writers, and the sacrifices they have to make.  And yes, of course, it's a comedy.

This is a "love" story that started out as a short play I wrote for Valentine's Day last year in response to a call for plays about love.  When the producer never acknowledged my submission (something that happens way too often these days), I decided to turn it into a short story.

It's especially exciting because it's my first short mystery story publication and first fiction  ever in a professional online magazine.  I'm honored to join all the other authors who've been published in KRL.  Thanks to Lorie for putting out the call for stories.

I'll remind y'all again once it's out.  LOL.  In the meantime, check out King's River Life, where you'll find lots of other great mysteries, reviews, news, etc.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.
http://bobbichukran.com

ANNIERELLA Productions Coming Up!

Alton Schools in Alton, Missouri will be doing two performances of ANNIERELLA & the (VERY AWESOME) GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER on March 9, 2012.

Yeehaw!

EDGAR ALLAN & VIRGINIA, FOREVERMORE. New ten-minute play!

I just put the finishing touches on a new ten-minute play titled EDGAR ALLAN & VIRGINIA, FOREVERMORE, just in time for Valentine's Day.   Yes, Edgar Allan as in POE.  

Set in 1845 right before the publication of THE RAVEN, EDGAR ALLAN & VIRGINIA, FOREVERMORE is a two-hander (one male, one female with the male being older) comedy about love, marriage, Valentine's Day and the reality of living with an author.   Funny how some things never change.

The setting is a simple table with two chairs, and just a few props.  Costumes are standard Victorian.

Before I wrote the play, I did quite a bit of research on Edgar's life and his marriage to his much younger cousin, Virginia.  I've always been a fan, and read his stories over and over in high school and afterwards.  They never cease to thrill me.  I tried to sprinkle snippets of his "phraseology" into the play, to give it a period feeling while still using my signature word play.

I'm seeking productions and readings for this new play. For more information, please contact the playwright, Bobbi A. Chukran, by e-mail.

Resolutions, anyone?

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, as such.  I do try to think about my goals for the next year, though.  Since we've been working on our huge remodeling project of the 1930's house, I haven't had as much time to write as I'd like to.  I find myself spending a lot of time chatting online with friends. Granted, we do talk about writing, but that ain't exactly gettin' the writing DONE and out there.  So I decided that in 2012, I will excavate those little gems from my the depths of my writing drawer, polish them up and find someplace to send them.

Oddly enough, I realized that many of my poems and stories are what some might call "speculative" fiction.   So be it!  I also want to write another full-length play for youth theatre using some new tips I've learned.

I hope all of you have a safe and Happy New Year, and that your writing dreams come true!  From our family to yours!

Happy trails (tails?) from Texas!

bobbi c.

JOURNAL OF MINA HARKER Kindle E-book On Sale

My JOURNAL OF MINA HARKER vampire play e-script for the Kindle has just been put on sale for 99-cents!  This is a limited time offer.  Suitable for young adults and adults, any vampire comedy lover would swoon to have a copy of their own!

Here are current reviews, from Amazon:

"Don't be put off because this is a theatre script - it's as enjoyable to read as any book. If you laughed at "Young Frankenstein," you'll love this twisted take on "Dracula." The plot and characters are straight out of Bram Stoker but with a wickedly funny slant. Renfield is a scream! The only thing better than reading this version would be seeing a production."  S.D.

"This play was fun to read and very entertaining. The characters, especially Renfield and Lucy, were a hoot! The play was easy to read and read more like a fast-paced novel than a playscript."  D. H.

"The Journal of Mina Harker is definitely a play schools should consider for production. It's funny, sly humor with some broad humor thrown in for contrast, and the familiarity of the Dracula legend makes for good fun and crowd pleasing potential. Reads well and will play even better. "

Happy trails, and thanks for supporting an emerging playwright!

bobbi c.

ANNIERELLA rides again!

Just got some photos from the recent November 2 production of ANNIERELLA & the (VERY AWESOME) GOOD QUEEN FAIRY COWMOTHER,  performed by students at St. Peter Catholic School in Beaufort, SC.  Thanks to Sister Judy for sending the photos. :-)

Eula Gee, the stepmother, explains about the Cowpoke's Ball at the Lazy R&B ranch!

Stepmother, Eula Gee, tells Annierella she cannot go to the ball, while here three step-sisters---Mozelda Joe, Brizelda Jane and Frizzelda Ann--look on.

Annierella meets the Good Queen Fairy Cowmother.

The Fairy Cowmother does a little magic and with the help of her helpers transforms poor Annierella into a princess right before our very eyes!  :-)

At the ball, Annierella meets the rich rancher, Roy Bob, who's immediately smitten.  (LOVE those red boots they found for Annierella to wear!)  But alas, time runs out and she has to leave, but not before losing one of her fancy dancing boots!

The step-sisters are SURE that one of them will make the boot fit.  But it's not to be!  (We knew that.)

After finding out that Annierella was the one wearing the missing red boot, he proposes.  But what was her answer?

Sorry, you'll have to read ANNIERELLA to find out!   LOL!!

(By the way, ANNIERELLA was the FIRST PLACE WINNER at the SUMMER SHORTS 4, Youth Education on Stage Festival at the Old Armory Theatre, Williston North Dakota June 23-24-25, 2009. 
Directed by Jack Dyville.)



bobbi c.

New improved website

Dear friends,

I've finally found the time to update my official website, and have included information on buying play scripts as well as full descriptions of all my  plays.  I've also included information on my ten-minute plays, which are great for speech competitions, drama class forensics, readings, etc.  Take a look!

Comedy Plays for Youth Theatre by Bobbi A. Chukran

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Writing is a messy business...

Being a writer doesn't feel like you think it will...

When I was ten years old, writing my first poetry and submitting them to contests, I'm not sure what I thought the life of a "real" writer would be like. All I knew was that I loved to write, and wanted to do a lot of it. I don't really remember a lot more of how I felt back then.

But as I got older, perhaps a starry-eyed teenager, I guess I formed a picture in my mind of what it would be like when I finally became published, became well-known, or at least, well-read by intellectual types. Maybe I would sit at a wonderful old oak roll top desk, with a little lamp on the corner sporting a cheerful green glass shade (it had to be green). I thought I'd be sitting at that desk all day with an old typewriter clacking out page after page of wonderful Stuff. Or I'd be sitting by a crackling fire, sipping cognac, pondering Great Thoughts.  Honestly, where did THAT come from?  Masterpiece Theatre?  LOL.

When it came time to go to college, I decided to major in art. To this day I wish ONE person had said “You have talent. You should write.” It took years of frustration trying to sell my artwork before I started writing about it instead and stumbled onto a whole new path.

Well, you know what? I finally got published. And it was NOT the way I thought it would be. My first desk was a fold-up, rickety card table in the corner of my bedroom in a low-rent apartment. I had an electric typewriter by then, but produced a manuscript using plain white paper and a lot of White-Out.  (Ironically enough, I'm writing on a rickety card-table again.  This time it's temporary, and is in the utility room of an old 1930 house we're remodeling, and I'm writing on an old laptop, and not a typewriter.)

My first advance for a 250-page book was $500. In those days, that paid about one month’s rent and a few bills. Over the next few years, the royalties weren't much more than that. But I didn't care; I was published!

My first books were resource guides that took hours and hours of research and correspondence. After twenty plus years,  that got old, and my old dream started nibbling at the corners of my mind.  I wanted to write STORIES, maybe even see people act them out.

You think you’ll sit down, and begin at the beginning, and write a story or a play from beginning to end. You think that if you have your little stack of color-coded index cards, that you’ll have your plot all worked out, nice and neat. Little do you know that once you put two characters in a room alone, they’ll start a conversation and pass you by so fast your head will spin. You’ll have no control over them, what they say or do. You’ll be freaked out about this, but go with it.  And they will wear the most atrocious clothing, like Mina Harker does in my new vampire comedy spoof inspired by Stoker's DRACULA.

You won’t have set hours to work. You’ll feel like crap all day because you stayed up too late the night before, have a cup of tea (caffeine!) at 5pm, then the next thing you know it’s 4am, you’re freezing, and you have produced some pages. You have no idea what you wrote, or where it came from.

You feel Out of Control. You are a writer.  Writing is a messy business.

You think that you’ll “dream up” the beginning of a story, and if you keep working on it, you’ll work straight through from beginning to end. Nope. Doesn’t work that way. The first inkling you have of a story might be a snippet of conversation you hear over breakfast in the neighborhood diner.  Like the one I overheard recently.  "…after my first son was born, I had a flap of skin that hung down to the floor, honey…” Take that and run with it. Turn it into a character. Write about that poor woman, then see what she wants to do. Or it might be a news story you hear in passing about a mutant rodent. Go with it.

Here’s the Big Secret that it took me years to learn. You don’t always start at the first sentence---you hardly ever start at the first sentence. Writing is not a linear activity, it’s more of a spiral thing. A story is organic, it grows, a little this way, a little out that way. You don’t have to know the ending until you get there.  You don't even have to know the beginning until later, either. Wow, what a mind-boggling idea that is!

I sure wish I’d known this long ago. I think it would have helped me be a little freer with my writing and get to the authentic stuff before now. I would have written more without stressing over having to know the first sentence, or trying to write a perfect book straight through. I would have paid better attention to the folks in the back corners of old diners.

Here’s the other Big Secret…you are not in control. Not really. You are a writer.

Bobbi A. Chukran
Copyright 2010

It's alive, it's alive! My DRACULA e-play adaptation...

Come on, you KNOW you want to read it...

No, not Frankenstein's monster....my new Kindle e-book on Amazon!  Just in time for Halloween reading...THE JOURNAL OF MINA HARKER is now ready for purchase for only $2.99.

DOWNLOAD A FREE SAMPLE or BUY THE BOOK FROM AMAZON.COM

Since a few of my friends have asked, I thought I'd write a bit about the background of this play, and how I came to write it.

A few years ago,  I was looking for a classic book to adapt into a serious, literary play, suitable for high school students. I decided to do Bram Stoker's DRACULA since I grew up watching (and loving!) the old DRACULA movies with Bela Lugosi and other vampire movies of the time.

Look deeep into my eyes...

Although the Lugosi movie was loosely based on the book, it didn't completely follow along with the original story.  I didn't know that until I actually sat down and read the book.  Once I started, I was mesmerized by the language, the imagery, and the story.  And I was fascinated to learn that a lot of the things we think we know about vampires didn't come from the novel; they came from the movie.

Turns out, the book is told through a series of journal entries, some by Jonathan Harker (Daniel in my story), and some by his wife, Mina.  Some of it comes through letters sent back and forth between the main characters (Jonathan even collected recipes that he sent home to Mina).  When I read it, I was astounded to learn that it really was Mina's story that she had pieced together from all these letters.  So I decided to tell it from her viewpoint.  Since it is a play, I had to shorten it so I choose to leave out a few of the original characters and scenes.  I do mention Holmwood and Texan Quincey Morris, but they don't show up in the play as real characters.

So, if I started out writing a serious adaptation, what happened?  LOL.  Well, the characters took over.  When I write fiction or a stage play, it plays in my head like a movie. When Dracula first enters and stumbles and almost falls, it occurred to me that he was "blind as a bat."  Hmmm.  I tried to ignore that, but  later, when poor Mr. Renfield ran into the room with his underwear over his head, spouting his Renfield rap---in Latin, no less--he's a really bad poet---I knew it wasn't going to be a serious adaptation.  Mina started wearing the most ginormous hats,  Daniel got a craving for an onion tart, and the Count demanded to know if his new home had nice curtains. After that, the characters took over and it became a comedy.  What else is an author to do?

Let's just say, it ain't Bela's DRACULA.  :-)  Sorry, Bela!

 (And with apologies to Bram.)

(And this hilariously fun play still needs a production.  Run time is approximately an hour.  E-mail me if interested.)

bobbi c.

DRACULA adaptation, The Journal of Mina Harker, published for Kindle

Dear readers,

Ever since I got a Kindle for Christmas last year, I've wanted to make some of my work available in that format.  Last year, I started work on my DRACULA adaptation, THE JOURNAL OF MINA HARKER, a comedy vampire play.  I edited and re-edited, reworked the characters, decided to go for a pure campy style and decided to tell it from Mina's point of view.  Yes, it's a bit twisted; it is a spoof, after all.  Finally, I was satisfied with it enough to publish it.  (By the way, I'd say it's rated PG-13...with just a few naughty innuendos. :-) )

So, just in time for Halloween 2011, I uploaded it to the Amazon.com site tonight.  Within 24-hours, it should be available for purchase in Kindle format for $2.99.

I'm convinced that people love to read plays and act out the parts in their minds.  I know I do.   At any rate, the script is also available to groups who want to do readings (and of course, productions).

I'll post the link when it's available on the Amazon website.

Happy trails,

bobbi c.

Monologues for Middle School published

I'm excited to announce that two of my original monologues for middle school age actors will be published by Dramatic Publishing in a new collection coming out soon--ORIGINAL MIDDLE SCHOOL SCENES and MONOLOGUES.

The two pieces are titled POWER PLAY and TELLING STORIES, and the short monologues are perfect for competitions or drama classes.

For more information, contact me.

Where the heck have I been?

Ah, good question.  For one thing, I've been trying to survive the drought from H.E.Double-Toothpicks here in Texas.  So far, so good, and doing that while simultaneously trying to remodel a VERY old (1930) home in Taylor, Texas.  That's like vintage, man.  It's been a dream of mine for years to do this, but didn't have the chance until recently.  Working on the house has left little time for writing much more than a few blog entries at my new Two Sisters 1930 Cottage blog. In the process of working on the house, I have come up with a few dandy ideas for plays and novels based on some of the characters I've met.  My lips are sealed!  For now.

In playwriting news, my ANNIERELLA play has chalked up a few more productions and my newest full-length fairy tale twist-up, PRINCESS PRIMROSE & the CURSE OF THE BIG SLEEP, won Third Place in the East Valley Children's Theatre Aspiring Playwriting contest for 2011.  Yay!  That's my second win with the great folks at the EVCT.

More news later.  And oh, by the way, why not consider doing a fun comedy play for a fund-raiser for your school, non-profit group, church or community event?  I have a GREAT Christmas play that needs a production.  Just sayin'....  :-)

Happy trails from HOT Texas!

bobbi c.