3 October 2007 |
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Some folks have asked me about the status of Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader. The good news is that the 400-page book is basically done, so I am awaiting the corrected galleys from a professional copy editor to catch any typos I might've overlooked and fix 'em. Remember, I've been looking at nothing else in the last seven months so it's pretty easy to lose sight of typos when you've gone over the same pages over and over again. I expect to get the galleys by Wednesday and then I will move fairly quickly. And don't ya worry--the cover will be posted SOON along with preordering information! I'm getting excited. What else will Lou and I do this weekend? He wants to go check out a scooter rally (he got himself a beautiful used Vespa LX150 the color of "Daring Plum" which he's nicknamed "Raisin Hell" a few weeks ago), and we will also go to the Minnesota State Fair. I do love going to the fair not only because of the dizzying rides where I get to scream my voice hoarse but also the amazing exhibition of Minnesota's best artists competing for prizes with all their creativity and talents. When I first heard about this, I initially pooh-poohed the idea because I didn't believe that fairs in general would attract genuine talent. Whoops. I was absolutely blown away the first time around in 2005, and again in 2006; there is definitely talent outside of New York. I can't wait to check the new entries! See y'all at the fair! 24 July 2007 Sorry for not blogging more often. Today I had to make one of the toughest decisions of my career in the arts: cancelling the production of my show I Never Slept with Helen Keller. I wrote in part to the Minnesota Fringe Festival: "Due to the fact that the actresses have had health issues, and that I was not able to find their replacements on such short notice (it seems that almost everyone is on vacation, and our tech rehearsal takes place a week from tonight), I've decided to pull the plug on the show. This hasn't been a particularly easy decision. This is the first time in my entire 15-year career as a playwright that a show of mine has had to be cancelled." I am so grateful for Lou's understanding and support. He is quite an angel. Speaking of Lou, he and I are moving in together next month in Kingfield, a neighborhood just south of Lake Street just over from Uptown. We found a lovely dog-friendly two-bedroom duplex apartment with hardwood floors and woodwork, a living room with skylight and fireplace, a sun room, a formal dining room, a larger kitchen with gas stove, and a small outdoor deck perfect for grilling in the back. I'm just so happy that I was able to find someone to finish off the rest of my lease for my favorite apartment of my life; she will move in by late August. I will miss living in this fabulous apartment, but it's not a terrible loss when I have someone as wonderful as Lou in my life. I'm still dunning a few more writers for their signed paperwork to allow me legally to include their work in my anthology Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader. Some of you have asked why there isn't a book cover posted online. I'm still waiting for the signature of a certain Deaf person which would allow me to use her picture on the cover. What's more, I need her signature to publish her story as well! Tomorrow I should be in better spirits about the show and move on. A few people have expressed interest in helping me get I Never Slept with Helen Keller produced elsewhere, so we'll see what happens next. That said, please continue to support the Minnesota Fringe Festival! They are still a worthy organization. Thank you all for your understanding and support. It's meant a lot to me all day. 13 July 2007 Wow. The RAD 2007 conference in Atlanta came and went so quickly that I find it hard to believe that I came back last Sunday! I have been busy with details for my play I Never Slept with Helen Keller. I'm most pleased (and honored, actually) that Matthew Everett, one of the top bloggers assigned to cover the Minnesota Fringe Festival, has decided that my show is #11 in his list of Top 20 must-see Fringe shows. See for yourself here! The show is becoming something of a juggernaut--I'm currently waiting to hear about whether it will be performed again in the last week of September. And there have been talks of putting the show on a tour of the Midwest. Again, we shall see! In the meantime, Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader is going to be expanded slightly more than I'd expected, mainly because I'd met some truly amazing folks at the RAD 2007 conference and asked them to write something even though I knew it was on very short notice. Still waiting for the last of paperwork to trickle in. Gotta head off for another round of rehearsals! 29 June 2007 This morning my presentation with Alicia Lane for the MADC Conference went well. I spent an enjoyable day with Deaf Minnesotans and their friends, learning more about the incredibly varied history of Deaf people in Minnesota. Tomorrow I have to work on a number of pieces for SIGNews and wrap up the final edits for Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader for my copy editor before I spend a week in Atlanta. I will be representing MNRAD as a delegate for the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf 2007 Conference. And of course, rehearsals for my play I Never Slept with Helen Keller are going well, especially with Albert Walla's input as signmaster so that the ASL translations will look beautiful and clear. 22 June 2007 It's been a very busy week--tying up the loose threads that is Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader. I had hoped that all of the contributors would have turned in their agreements in time for me to promote the book and its cover at the Twin Cities Pride festival this weekend, but it looks like I'll have to content myself with using some of the pictures in an iron-on for my T-shirt. Never fear--I expect to have the cover posted online real soon! I was also busy with details for my show I Never Slept with Helen Keller, so that's going well. I've expanded the web site with "Thoughts on Helen Keller," so check it out! Tickets go on sale on July 1st. And now all weekend I will be at the MNRAD booth. Please come on down to Loring Park and look for Booth #2040 (near the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Oak Grove Street), and join us in the festivities! 12 June 2007 Due to the fact that I'd forgotten to include my apartment number on the shipping address, the postcards for my show I Never Slept with Helen Keller has unfortunately stayed in limboland. Luckily enough for moi, Lou has agreed to come with me to the UPS pickup place this evening. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. (The tickets go on sale next month, and I expect to update the web site tomorrow once I hear back from my dramaturg John Lee Clark.) And speaking of postcards, the MNRAD postcards arrived today well in advance of the Twin Cities Pride Festival happening on the weekend of June 24th; if I may say so myself, they truly look kick-ass. I can't wait to help promote MNRAD and meet all sorts of people passing by our booth (we're #2040 on the Pride Festival map this year so look for our location and say/sign hi hi hi!). More and more signed agreements for Eyes of Desire 2: A Deaf GLBT Reader keep arriving in my mailbox. As of this afternoon, I have 37 writers left to go, most of whom have emailed to say that they've posted the paperwork over the last few days. (The book has over 70 writers with stories from over 15 countries.) Of note is the fact that today is the first full day in which I'm wearing my new glasses. I've needed new glasses for a long time (the last time my eyes were tested was back in 1994), so I forced myself to get tested two months ago. Then life intervened until I finally made time to try out a bunch of different frames before I settled on a nifty pair a week ago. I picked it up yesterday, and let me tell you--it was a real shock to see how crystal-clear the details were, particularly from far away. I didn't realize how bad my left eye was, so I am very happy that everything looks razor-SHARP as my right eye. Next step? I need to brush up for my driver's test. Oh yeah, my Teegarden book has dropped slightly to #15 on Amazon's poetry bestseller list. I'd love to know who's buying my book! If you're one of those people, please let me know what you think. 8 June 2007 The web site for my fourteenth play I Never Slept with Helen Keller is more or less done, so I'm very happy about that. I only need to write in detail about how the show came about, which I will post later today. |
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Postcards promoting the show should arrive on Monday. Tickets go on sale in July. I will keep you posted as to its particulars, naturally! More signed agreements for Eyes of Desire 2 continue to trickle in. It is my hope that I will have the cover of the book posted online by June 20th. My Teegarden book is still holding steady at #14 on Amazon's poetry bestseller list. Yayyy! 5 June 2007 My, my, what agreements have been pouring in! I have been checking off the lucky ones who'll be in Eyes of Desire 2, thanks to their signatures on these forms. I'm about halfway through the list of contributors, but I am making excellent progress. I really wish I could show a sneak preview of the cover, but I am waiting for all the signatures to come in first. Yesterday I uploaded the two sides for the postcard for I Never Slept with Helen Keller. It looks awesome, but I really want to finish the web site for the show first before I announce it here. I'm pleased to see that as of this writing, my Teegarden book has moved up one notch to #14 on the Amazon's poetry bestseller list. Yay! (Thank you, whoever you are!) These days my thoughts are with my sister Mary, who will be undergoing major surgery tomorrow morning. If I don't respond quickly to your emails tomorrow, you know why. 28 May 2007 Yesterday Lou and I biked to Lake Nokomis, a first for me after having conquered four lakes near my home over last summer, but after a grand total of 20 miles, my body was a bit exhausted. But it was truly refreshing to watch Pan's Labyrinth, a film that has a strong script but felt surprisingly--and slightly so--disappointing. I think it was because the trailer that I saw emphasized the magical elements of the film, and the film itself didn't truly do enough of that part of the story. What has been truly inspiring is the BBC mega-documentary Planet Earth. Lou and I watched the first four episodes, each of which covers mountains, fresh water lakes, and so on. The footage is truly, truly extraordinary and eye-popping. This is not your conventional Discovery nature documentary. It is that inspiring in a non-Hallmark sort of way, and worth every penny of the $25 million they'd spent to make the series. In addition to yet another episode (it's deserts this time) of Planet Earth tonight, Lou and I hope to watch The Naked Civil Servant, the 1975 film that starred John Hurt and made Quentin Crisp (how I miss his company still!) famous in the UK and beyond. It's never been captioned before, so I'm grateful that the new DVD edition is subtitled for folks like moi. Signed agreements for Eyes of Desire 2 keep coming in. The book cover is shaping up nicely. Just wait--it'll knock your socks off your feet! I've also been working on a new draft of my play I Never Slept with Helen Keller for the Minnesota Fringe Festival, so I do have a lot on my plate these days! As for my Teegarden book on the Amazon's poetry bestseller list, I've dropped to ... #15. People, if you haven't read my latest book, please do something about it. (Nudge nudge, wink wink.) Seriously, it would be nice. Happy Memorial Day, everyone! 22 May 2007 It's now official: The Ontario Association of the Deaf will be giving a performance of my play Love in My Veins in Toronto, Canada as part of the 20th Anniversary bash for the Deaf Outreach Program on Saturday, August 24th. I'm very excited as I've never been to Toronto, and what's more, Canada would become the third country in which at least one of my plays has been done. Can't wait! Securing signatures on the paperwork required for Eyes of Desire 2 continues. I have three more pieces left to fine-tune before the book can be considered more or less finished, and move it towards publication. More information to come as soon as all the signatures are in. 18 May 2007 I've been so busy catching up with the emails and deadlines I'd missed while away in Ironwood with Lou earlier this week. We had a most marvelous time catching up with my mother and checking out the quiet shores of Lake Superior, and we rather unexpectedly ended up playing pool for a few hours with my nephew at a friend's pool hall in the ever-bustlin' downtown Ironwood. Here's a nice one of me, courtesy of Lou. (Thanks again!) |
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| Last night I had dinner with John Lee Clark. He was most thrilled to learn that I had dedicated my book When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden to him. The title is as of right now #12 on Amazon's poetry besteller list. 13 May 2007 A bit of depressing news. My newest book When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden, as of right this minute, has dropped down to #9 on Amazon's poetry bestseller list. Still, I'm grateful that people seem to be buying the book at any rate. (Thank you again.) What's on my plate for today? A bike ride with Lou this morning, for starters. I am not sure where we will go this time, but the lovely thing about the Twin Cities is that it is level for the most part so it's really easy to go long distances almost anywhere. Then I will work on Eyes of Desire 2. Later tonight Lou and I will start watching on DVD the first episode or two of the much-acclaimed BBC documentary mini-series Planet Earth. 12 May 2007 A few days ago Lou asked to take pictures of me swinging on Lake Calhoun, one of my favorite places in Minneapolis. I chose to use two of them for my new home page, and another one for my revamped (and shorter) blog here. (The first first four months of 2007 have been archived here.) I have been really busy with Eyes of Desire 2 and its associated paperwork. (Fun, fun, fun? No, but it'll be all worth it.) Lou and I are also looking forward to visiting my mother in Ironwood real soon! 7 May 2007, 10:50 p.m. I decided to double-check that Amazon page where When I am Dead was a best-selling title. Whoa! I had hit #3! Then ten minutes later, my book dropped down to #4. Still, I'm very happy about that. You don't believe me? Check out the screen capture below; click on it for a better look. |
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7 May 2007, 4:37 p.m. My new book finally arrived today. (Yayyy!!!) Lou captured my initial reaction to seeing my sixth book in print: |
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Seriously, though, I'm honored that Gallaudet University Press had chosen to publish my book. I'm still hard at work on Eyes of Desire 2. The book is really, really coming together, so I'm very happy about that. 30 April 2007, 12:10 noon Newsflash! Lou was kind enough to point out that according to Amazon, my new book When I am Dead: The Writings of George M. Teegarden is actually #16 in the new and future releases section of Poetry (as of today at 12:10 noon; this list changes hourly). Golly! Don't believe me? Cllick on the picture below for a larger look-see. |
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For my earlier blog entries dated January - April 2007
when I won a little award for my first novel
and became a budding TV star (ha!), please click here.
Photographs of Raymond Luczak by Lou Miranda.
Copyright © 2007 by Raymond Luczak. All rights reserved.