by john | May 18, 2011 | Theatre, Writing
Rent is up, and it’s fantastic. If you’re in the Charlotte area anytime in the next two weeks, and can get a ticket (several performances are already sold out), you should come see this show. It’s one of the best casts I’ve worked with, very even from ensemble to leads, and the voices are amazing! They have a ton of energy, a ton of devotion to the show, and they leave everything they’ve got out on the stage every night. They hold nothing back, which is fantastic. It might be tough this Saturday night when they have two shows, but for everything else, it’s awesome! I’ll link to some photos and videos eventually, I was really happy with the way the show turned out, and a couple of folks have said that it’s probably the best thing they’ve seen me do.
I tend to agree, I think this is the best show I’ve ever lit. I’ve done well over a hundred shows, from musicals to straight plays, comedy to drama, and this one tops them all. There was one moment last week when I watched a scene unfold, the song finished up and I thought “I don’t know if I can do that any better.” Which is why I’m quitting.
I’m retiring as a lighting designer, at least for the near future. I’ve done what I can do in this market, with the available resources, and this is a great show to end my run on. Now this might end up being a Ric Flair-type retirement, that happens every couple of years until I die, but if I don’t ever do another show, I can be very happy with the body of work I’ve presented to the world. And with RENT being a show that I wanted to do for more than a decade, it’s fitting to call it done with this one.
Because I have this other career that is taking off. You know, the one that you are probably here to read about. The one that has me toodling around the internets for the next couple of weeks checking in at different blogs all over the place, doing interviews and guest posts and giveaways, oh my! So the tour continues, and today I’m over at Urban Fantasy Investigations giving an interview, so swing by and say hello!
by john | May 11, 2011 | Real Life, Travel, Writing
The Virtual Road, that is. Next week kicks off my blog tour with Bookish Snob Promotions, so here’s a rundown on where I’ll be and what you can expect when I’m there.
May 16 – I’ll be doing a Guest Post over at Black Lagoon Reviews
May 17 – I’ll be doing a Guest Post at Karissa’s Book Review, along with a chance for folks to win a signed copy of Hard Day’s Knight!
May 18 – The fine folks at Urban Fantasy Investigations have done an interview with me.
May 19 – Another Guest Post, this one at My Bookish Ways
May 20 – A Guest Post at A Chick Who Reads
May 21 – Interview at Paranormal Opinion with another signed book to give away!
May 22 – I’ll be interviewed at Reality Bites
You can keep up with me on Twitter or Facebook, where I’ll update the tour daily, and you can always find info here or at Bookish Snob Promotions. Please come over and check out these guest posts and interviews, where I get a lot more into the writing process than I typically do here on my rambling blog. And please go support Belinda over at The Bookish Snob, who’s putting this whole thing together for me.
There hasn’t been much progress on Knight Moves, because I’ve been working on RENT and getting ready for the SC Book Festival, both of which are this weekend. Also, Suzy is in a different play, which also opens tomorrow night. So it’s been a little nuts around the Hartness household. But everything calms down for a couple of weeks after Monday, so that’ll help out with my productivity. And my sleep :).
So please come visit me on tour, and if you’re anywhere near Columbia, SC this weekend, come visit me in Real Life. The Book Festival is free and features a big pile of authors, including me, Sam Morton, Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price.
by john | May 4, 2011 | Writing
Not much – yeah, that’s a load of crap. I’m up to my eyeballs in stuff from work, to theatre, to upcoming shows to trying to get Knight Moves polished up and ready to go. I’m about 1/3 of the way through the first draft now, and was hoping to finish the whole thing for the Heroes Con in June, but that’s realistically not going to happen. I go into tech rehearsals for RENT next week, so I’ll be losing most of two weeks’ worth of writing time in the evenings, what with loading things in this week and tech rehearsals next week.
I watched rehearsal for the first time last night, and it’s going to be a very good show. One of my big problems with theatre in a small market is the casts are typically very uneven. You’ll have very good leads, and decidedly mediocre supporting actors. Or you’ll have one lead that is significantly better than the other, or something like that. This cast is all pretty even. They’re good, and there are some very nice moments already, so give them a few more rehearsals and an audience, and they’ll be very good.
I’ve acquired 16 LED fixtures and a new lighting console of my very own for this show, so I’m spending about $5k on a show that will pay me $1,500 (design fee + rental budget), but then I’ll have a bunch of gear that can be rented out for the next few years. I’ve already lined up 3-4 rental shows for the summer, so I oughta be able to pay for this gear in a year or two. Worst case, I can sell it on eBay and get my money back. I’ve also borrowed a bunch of other gear, so the show should be pretty awesome looking. Which I hope will be the case, since this is probably my theatrical swan song, at least for a little while. I just don’t want to take time away from my writing to sit in a dark theatre for a couple of weeks anymore. And I’m almost to the point where I make more money writing than I do designing, but not quite.
So after Rent I’ll be taking a break for a while to focus on getting Knight Moves out the door, then turning my attention to one of several projects that I have floating around. I think the next project will be something outside The Black Knight Chronicles, so here’s your chance to help me decide what to write next. Here are my current ideas, what do you want to read?
1) Spy Thriller in the Vince Flynn/Tom Clancy mode?
2) Coming of Age horror novel about kidnapped kids?
3) Mystery/Action novel about a city falling into an abandoned mine?
4) Epic fantasy novel about an unrepentant elf assassin?
5) Space bounty hunter?
Your vote counts, people! Lemme know what to write next. I might completely disregard your ideas, but I might not. Leave it in the comments.
by john | May 3, 2011 | Music, Real Life
I’m back from the Fest that was Merle, and while I appreciate the fact that I say this every year – holy crap what a show! Seriously, Robert Plant, Sam Bush, Lyle Lovett, Joan Osborne, Doc Watson, The Waybacks, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Tim O’Brien, and more, more, more! And we didn’t even go to the festival on Day 1!
I will admit to having a religious experience on at least four different occasions throughout the weekend. I’ll give you those highlights, but for the full experience you’ll have to go with me next year!
#1 – Hartford Tribute Band – if you’re not a John Hartford fan, its just because you don’t know you’re a John Hartford fan yet. In a tribute to the late great Hartford, Sam Bush, Allison Brown, Laura Boosinger & Tim O’Brien got together for an awesome rendition of “Steam Powered Aero-Plane,” one of my favorite Hartford songs.
#2 – The Hillside Album Hour – over the past four years, The Waybacks have created a tradition of covering a classic rock album with a host of special guests every Saturday at Merlefest. Past albums include Led Zeppelin II, Sticky Fingers and Abbey Road. Being raised on The Allman Brothers, when they tore into Eat a Peach it was a particularly special moment for me. That I shared with probably 15,000 of my closest friends. This year’s special guest vocalist was Joan Osborne, and man, that chick can wail!
#3 – same set – at the end of the set, they decided that Little Martha was too mellow to end with, so they ripped out a monstrous rendition of “Whipping Post” that must have caused tremors miles away from all the concentrated dancing and clapping. I wept a little. Just a little.
#4 – Sunday – Robert Plant and The Band of Joy – the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame made an appearance at the bluegrass festival, and it was amazing! From the opening number (Black Dog), Plant and his new Band of Joy – Buddy Miller, Patti Griffin, Darrell Scott, Byron House and a drummer who I forgot because I suck – killed it. The closer for the set was a beautiful version of “Ramble On.” I wept a little again, and danced like a happy fat man, which I was.
At some point I’ll get around to telling the traumatic story of trying to get home, but for today we’ll accentuate the positive. It was a great weekend of music with great friends – hope to see you there next year!
