January 2022 Updates
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you are safe, well, and experiencing good things in your life.
A new year can feel like a big time for change. For me, 2022 actually is. I’ve mentioned this in passing in other articles and on social media, but I left my previous job behind in 2021.
My career outside of writing is teaching. I’ve largely worked in educational music and theatre programs year round since 2006. To put it in perspective, it hasn’t even been a month since I left the theatre job and it’s the longest I haven’t been involved in any kind of theatrical or music production since 2000. Before I taught, I performed, and even throughout high school and college I was always booked on something.
I love the work and I love the industries, but it was time for me to find something more stable. I’ve been substitute teaching again and I know a classroom is where I ultimately belong. I’m working on finding my own space while filling in as needed in various schools in the area. It’s great experience to see how things have changed in the classroom over the past few years. Put the pandemic aside: every school in this area seems to have a 1:1 technology plan in place. I had to roll in a laptop cart or reserve the computer lab the last time I worked full time during the regular school day.
Besides that, I’m busy at work on a number of projects.
First, the second chapter of Extra Intent comes out next Friday, 28 January. CJ is learning the reality of how to actually handle his new career in haunted objects and the money that seemed so promising might not outweigh the costs of working in that medium.
Second, The Outer Limits reviews will return tomorrow to The Avocado. I’ve had to put a lot of time into the real world, which meant less time for projects outside the realm of Sketching Details. I miss writing at The Avocado and I’m excited to continue on with season two, episode three tomorrow.
Third, the Best Films of 2021 list will be going up on Friday. I’ve been scrambling to finish all I want to see and not all of the entries will have a review straight away at Sketching Details. For example, I’m pretty sure The Tragedy of Macbeth is making the list, but I’m not in the headspace to find a new angle on it that makes sense here. It’s an excellent adaptation and Denzel Washington might be my new favorite Macbeth. I want to own a copy to use when I teach Macbeth in the future. This plus Alan Cumming’s one person adaptation gives me the footage I need to demonstrate the tone, style, and performance of this text.
That’s all I can share for now.
#31Days: A Collection of Horror Essays, vol. 2 is available to purchase at Ko-fi, Smashwords, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, and Amazon.
Read my serialized novel Extra Intent on Kindle Vella for free.
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