My niece Rose says, “You need to read Earths in Space and RIP so Uncle Danny can buy me more toys and spoil me rotten.”

She’s so excited, her face has become a blur of motion.

We all need exercise. It’s easy to get sucked in to many hours at the computer, making it all the more important to prioritize getting out there and being active.

My preferred workout is martial arts training. Here’s a nice little video/commercial that mentions several benefits of such a program:

If you’re in or around Central Virginia Saturday, please stop by and meet a whole bunch of authors. Maybe even buy their books. Since my books are only digital, I won’t be handling any money, but I will have free samples and cards to hand out. Come say hello!

Sorry to those of who you aren’t in Virginia. I’ll make sure my next post is less geographically specific.

This is what my 3-year-old niece does to my bookshelf basically every time she visits:

Attack of the hand-me-down Smurfs.

(The following is contributed content from the organizers of the Blogger Book Fair. I’ll be participating. Will you?)

Check in to the Blogger Book Fair,
and book your trip to far away places!

July 22-26, 2013

Authors and Book Bloggers,

Sign ups for the July 2013 Blogger Book Fair will close on June 15 at midnight central time, so get your registrations in to participate! Continue reading →

Are you an aspiring filmmaker and/or screenwriter?

Then you need to check out Taliesin Nexus’ programs.

I attended their 2011 Filmmakers Workshop, and it was a great experience. I met lots of working Hollywood professionals who gave great (if sometimes conflicting) advice on working in the industry. I also got my RIP pilot script in the hands of a working producer. He passed on it, but he actually read the work of an unknown like me.

Don’t ignore opportunities like this.

This is my final pre-written installment of the theatre education series for high school students. If you’d like more, please let me know.

Continuing the series on theatre education for high school students…

Casting a show can be fun, but there’s one potentially stressful part. For most school one-act festivals, you’re competing with several other directors for the same pool of actors. You probably won’t get everyone you want. You have to realize that going in.

As I said before, you need to consider alternative cast members before you meet with the other directors. That way, if one actor isn’t available, you have someone else in mind you’re comfortable with. Continue reading →