Catching my Breath

I realize I haven't posted for a week, but too many things have come in the way. The first was a wonderful experience--going with a group of friends to Ashland, OR for the Shakespeare Festival for three days. The drive is lovely, past Mount Shasta, over Shasta Lake, through wooded hills and the then town of Ashland is a delight, nestled in fir-covered mountains. We stayed only a short walk from the theaters and saw three plays in two days. The first was a modern rendition of The Merry Wives of Windsor, set in Windsor IOWA. The Falstaff character is a sleazy senator, trying to replenish his campaign coffers by seducing rich women.

The next play was the best Romeo and Juliet I have ever seen. The couple were played as their true ages, 14 and 16, as gawky, shy teenagers, thus making the tragedy even more poignant. At the end there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including mine.

And the last play was... well, weird. Macbeth, Medea and Cinderella. Yes, Cinderella, complete with fairy godmother and a pumpkin turning into a coach. Three plays going on simultaneously, sometimes with almost identical lines. Not sure that it worked but it was interesting.

Also interesting was our backstage tour given by one of the actors. He gave us lots of interesting insights and had a great sense of humor. Add to this some good meals, lots of laughs and some shopping and you have a perfect outing.

As soon as I got back I had to plunge into copy edits for my next Molly book, write two guest blogs and then a complete e-story to be delivered by the end of the month. So not much time to catch my breath. I finished those copy edits today (do you know that I hate serial commas?) and now just have the writing to do. I keep thinking I'll get ahead, but I never seem to. I've also a speech for a writers convention in San Francisco next week as well as panels to prepare for at the Bouchercon convention. Maybe I'll slow down one day.  Maybe not.