Well, the holiday season is completed, I have gained 73 lbs, and I figure that it's time for an end-of-year assessment. Unlike 2014, which I left behind me with a sense of vague dissatisfaction, I'm pretty okay with 2015!
So, LET'S DO THIS.
In the first few months of 2015, I started a strange habit: at the end of each month, I wrote things I was proud of accomplishing on a post-it note, and then taped it to my wall. This was mostly a reaction to how I found myself feeling at the end of 2014; I couldn't really think of anything I'd done that was particularly productive or useful or what I'd set out to do. I'm sure I must have done *something*, but my brain - which is generally pretty limited in terms of memory stores - couldn't recall anything. So, I told myself that 2015 would be the year I did stuff.
And heck - I really, actually did. But first, the big one!
1) DOMINION JAR
Available at Createspace or Amazon (book and Kindle!)
It only took me this side of forever, and I spent a lot of time flapping my hands with anxiety after self publishing (why did I do it on my birthday? WHY?). Apparently expecting the worst was the exact right thing to do, because nothing wound up as bad as I'd feared - I've gotten really great responses to my first book, along with AN OFFICIAL REVIEW!! (Thanks again, Chris!! I'm still totally going to quote you in the next one - hahaha!) Additional thanks to Lori, Tina, and Dave for leaving me reviews on Goodreads and Amazon as well - I really, really appreciate them (even if Dave did call me strange... but I also think I threatened his life in my signing of his book, soooo). I also received some lovely individual feedback as well, and those were wonderful messages/texts/posts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!
I am no longer flapping my hands with anxiety, just with happiness!
And for the people who've been asking when the next book will be finished, good news - that's also part of my 2015 successes! In January, I completed my full handwritten first draft of the second book, Nothing That is Not, and then typed it up into the second draft, which has been printed out for more extensive review. It still requires approximately 20,000,042 hours of editing, but IT'S A WHOLE THING!
In addition, the third book - Till Human Voices Wake Us - was my novel for NaNoWriMo, and the preliminary draft is fully complete for that book too. I did some minor work on some standalone ideas here and there - Strange Children and Dazed and Dragooned have moved from preliminary drafts into the dregs of first draftdom - but since I should probably make sure I can absolutely follow up Dominion Jar within a respectable amount of time, The Nothing That is Not is the one you'll be hearing about most often. :D
Again - thank you to the people who listen to me, support me, and send me threatening text messages. It all helps! Just... maybe not the ones about breaking into my house, DAVE.
2) BIRD IS BORN
and he grumps a lot on Twitter.
Bird has been with me for many, many years. I first started drawing him in gradeschool, and for whatever reason I just never bothered to stop. Finally, in March, Bird took his 3-D form. He was made completely blindly, with no patterns, no knowledge of how the hell to carve foam properly or use faux fur when sewing, and he still does not have feet, wings, or the appropriate number of head stripes, but he's my buddy.
He requires some additional maintenance I've been putting off - his nose was accidentally punched out along the top seams by an overenthusiastic individual, for example - but I've been working with him and playing around with him on short videos and stuff like that. I have several ideas for him in reference to my YouTube channel, so it'll get done. Plus, Brian won't stop asking about Bird's wings, so I suppose if I want any peace I should get on that.
Speaking of YouTube, though.
3) BIRD BARF PODCAST
A.K.A. Tina is a really tolerant bff
So, LET'S DO THIS.
In the first few months of 2015, I started a strange habit: at the end of each month, I wrote things I was proud of accomplishing on a post-it note, and then taped it to my wall. This was mostly a reaction to how I found myself feeling at the end of 2014; I couldn't really think of anything I'd done that was particularly productive or useful or what I'd set out to do. I'm sure I must have done *something*, but my brain - which is generally pretty limited in terms of memory stores - couldn't recall anything. So, I told myself that 2015 would be the year I did stuff.
And heck - I really, actually did. But first, the big one!
1) DOMINION JAR
Available at Createspace or Amazon (book and Kindle!)
Sadie is my biggest supporter! Minus when she drooled on it (sorry, Cara - this was probably your copy...)
I am no longer flapping my hands with anxiety, just with happiness!
And for the people who've been asking when the next book will be finished, good news - that's also part of my 2015 successes! In January, I completed my full handwritten first draft of the second book, Nothing That is Not, and then typed it up into the second draft, which has been printed out for more extensive review. It still requires approximately 20,000,042 hours of editing, but IT'S A WHOLE THING!
In addition, the third book - Till Human Voices Wake Us - was my novel for NaNoWriMo, and the preliminary draft is fully complete for that book too. I did some minor work on some standalone ideas here and there - Strange Children and Dazed and Dragooned have moved from preliminary drafts into the dregs of first draftdom - but since I should probably make sure I can absolutely follow up Dominion Jar within a respectable amount of time, The Nothing That is Not is the one you'll be hearing about most often. :D
Again - thank you to the people who listen to me, support me, and send me threatening text messages. It all helps! Just... maybe not the ones about breaking into my house, DAVE.
2) BIRD IS BORN
and he grumps a lot on Twitter.
Bird has been with me for many, many years. I first started drawing him in gradeschool, and for whatever reason I just never bothered to stop. Finally, in March, Bird took his 3-D form. He was made completely blindly, with no patterns, no knowledge of how the hell to carve foam properly or use faux fur when sewing, and he still does not have feet, wings, or the appropriate number of head stripes, but he's my buddy.
He requires some additional maintenance I've been putting off - his nose was accidentally punched out along the top seams by an overenthusiastic individual, for example - but I've been working with him and playing around with him on short videos and stuff like that. I have several ideas for him in reference to my YouTube channel, so it'll get done. Plus, Brian won't stop asking about Bird's wings, so I suppose if I want any peace I should get on that.
Speaking of YouTube, though.
3) BIRD BARF PODCAST
A.K.A. Tina is a really tolerant bff
It was also about a year ago that Tina and I started recording podcasts. I came up with the idea after listening to about a thousand Nerdist podcasts in a row, and it just seemed like something fun and silly to do. It took a little bit of convincing when I first brought up the idea to Tina (since she and I basically read/watch/complain about all the same things anyway), but soon she gave in, and Bird Barf was born.
In actuality, our first podcast was called Books to Movies, but it took too long to make since it required reading AND watching various movies, and we switched to Bird Barf's (usually) shorter format. However, because neither of us have any sense of self preservation, when Tina suggested trying Books to Movies again as a once-a-month bonus podcast, I agreed. So, in addition to our Bird Barf about Jessica Jones next week, we will be putting together a Books to Movies discussing Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I think we agreed that these would be posted on the last Thursday of each month, so keep an eye out for those. Or ear. Or... whatever.
But Bird Barf has been a ton of fun, and we've gotten our friends involved too - thanks to Maryna, Jackie, Miranda, and Gory!!
And, last but absolutely not least:
4) I STARTED MAKING SHORT FILMS FOR SOME REASON
I blame at least 85% of it on Gory
Dad as Red Green! He didn't win the ultimate prize, but he got a letter from Steve Smith along with a consolation prize!! Yaaay!!
So, this urge was kind of a surprise to me. When I was in college, I spent enough time in the film school that, by the time I graduated, I had absolutely no desire to ever do anything related to film ever again. Within the past few years, though, that mindset started to change. A lot of it has to do with Felicia Day, who has basically done every kind of creativity there is to do and completely amazes me, along with my friend Gory, who makes amazing visual art and is probably one of the most supportive people ever put on this planet. Top the two of them off with the Twisted Twins, an amazing filmmaking duo who make awesome films and whose first film - Dead Hooker in a Trunk - is gloriously low-budget and independent, and I decided I would at least give it a shot.
And then I made four shorts! Sort of.
1) Red Green Red-A-Like Contest
My impetus for starting the whole thing was when I found an announcement that Red Green was doing a lookalike contest. My dad and I are huge fans of the show, and so I went out, bought him a hat and a plaid shirt along with red and green ribbons that we pinned to him to look like suspenders, and together we filmed this brief entry. In short (haha), my dad is the best.
2) Maryna's Leigh Bardugo Six of Crows Contest Entry
Yes, I fridged her. It's okay. She was reading and didn't even notice.
This is a video that I filmed when Tina and I invaded Maryna's house for a weekend back in September. Because it's for a contest (and a winner has YET TO BE ANNOUNCED, WTF), I can't actually show you the video. I just really, really wanted to show you a picture of Maryna wearing a crown and a pretty dress while reading in a refrigerator. It was a lot of fun to make, which I knew would be the case because of THE FOLLOWING SHORT (and probably first one that legit fits the description)!!
3) The House
This was officially the first scripted film that I made, and I couldn't have done it without Tina once again being the most agreeable person on the face of the planet. She co-wrote the script with me, she co-directed it with me, and then we dragged Maryna into our madness. Not only was Maryna immediately on board (we were actually going to do something else entirely, but this wound up happening instead and we're all perfectly pleased with it), but she had her own suggestions that were perfect, and she was a freaking amazing actress. She knew what we wanted without Tina or I ever having to actually come out with a complete sentence, and her sense of timing and pacing and the fact that she's ethereal and beautiful and knows how to make those attributes somehow become creepy completely amazed us. She's beyond awesome. Thank you, Maryna!!
I've posted these stills in random places, but here is a selection of my favorites.
Next time Maryna is in town - it's on. I've already got a script!! But in the meantime, I decided to try being more ambitious, which resulted in:
4) Anger Management
The whole idea for this came because I wanted to make a new puppet, and I wanted that puppet to be an angry pumpkin. As I was driving back from Peoria one weekend, the entire story popped into my brain. I called Tina and left her a rambling voicemail (she wound up not having time to help me write or direct this one, but I'll drag her back in - JUST YOU WAIT), and when she told me it wasn't the worst idea she'd ever heard, I started writing.
Then, I texted Amy and asked her if she would be morally opposed to murdering someone for the sake of ~art~.
Then, I texted Amy and asked her if she would be morally opposed to murdering someone for the sake of ~art~.
I'd been wanting to do something with Amy for ages. Amy's an actress, and ever since the ideas began to slowly bounce around in my brain, I knew I had to find some way to include her. And, naturally, she was amazing in this. She's got a great sense of comedic timing, and she loves puppets on the same vaguely neurotic level that I do, so she was really perfect for this!
My dad played O' the Pumpkin, which was also really really great, and he was an excellent sport. He spent most of his time lying on the kitchen floor beneath the table, and though we threw him couch cushions to lie on, it still couldn't have been comfortable. Despite having to print out gigantic print for the script because apparently he's blind, he also spent a lot of time shouting really helpful suggestions from under the table. Next time, I'm going to make him show his face again - I already have that script too!!
And speaking of wonderful:
When I first texted Maggie and asked something along the lines of "Hey, want to be in my short? I need you to be as annoying as possible, and then I'm going to carve your face up like a jack-o-lantern", I don't think she even hesitated. Maggie is amazing. She was hilarious, which I knew she would be - she was way better than me in our improv class! She also let me pour blood all over her, along with sticking paper towels onto her face with fake latex. She was really, really great. Thanks for letting me murder you, Maggie!!
And again - some favorite stills! Thanks to Amy for the ones from Maggie's makeup application.
Well, anyway, there's some of the big, random stuff from my year!! It was a lot of fun. I also traveled a lot with Brian, including to Seattle and New York, two places I'd never been before. However, if I add more pictures, I suspect this thing will explode. So, for now - HAPPY 2016!! HERE WE GO!!!!
:D:D:D:D:D Thank you for putting up with me!!!!
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