Tag: Annie’s Book Stop

Weekly Update – July 4, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Happy Fourth of July, eveyone! Don’t get (too) drunk and blow (all) your fingers off!

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Second draft of the main story is done and with test readers, and I finished the first draft of the back-up short story over the weekend.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

Speaking of CTRF, that show is going to be a little cuckoo for me. I typically don’t work the fall show, but then for a while it was looking like I might, then it was looking like I wouldn’t, now it’s looking like I am, doing some writing, fight directing, and performing. That means I’ll be at my table on my Local Authors Series day in costume, which I kind of hate. I like to be “Author Mike” when I’m appearing at any kind of event, and showing up in a costume, even if it’d be appropriate, feels cheesy.

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Weekly Update – June 27, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

I lead off this week with a quick, last-minute event announcement. I’ll be at the Shrewsbury Public Library tomorrow starting at 4 PM for their summer reading kickoff event. I’ll be among two dozen local authors who’ll be there selling books and talking about writing, so come on by!

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Yay! The second draft is done and off to my test readers! I’m now working on a short that will run as a bonus backup feature and I hope to get that done within the next couple of weeks.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

Registration for Arisia 2018 opened last week, and I’m waiting to hear whether I’ll be in the vendor room again.

Weekly Update – June 20, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young Adult2 Comments

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: First draft is done! I punched out another 7,000 words since last week to bring the story to its conclusion, and got a lot of work done on draft two. My goal is to finish the second draft this week and send it out to my beat readers — and then get to work on an all new project (mwa ha ha).

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

The Worcester Writers Collaborative is back up and running after an extended hiatus! A bunch of us met last week to talk about where we all were individually and hatch some future plots, and it looks like the group is officially back in action. Woo!

Weekly Update – June 13, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Interview, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: First draft is at 58,000 words thanks to a solid writing weekend. That’s 4,000 words since last week, and that’s with a half a day on Saturday (the rest of the day was spent at a scotch sampling).

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

I had my interview with Connie Dowell for the Book Echoes Podcast last week, and it should be available some time next week. I’ll let everyone know.

Weekly Update – June 6, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Yes, another slow weekend has come and gone, but the coming weekend is ALL MINE! Veronica is heading to NJ for some family time, so I have three full days of writing goodness ahead, and I’m going to be tackling the final action sequence — for which I have some choice 80s action films lined up to keep me motivated.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: First draft is at 54,000 words. Got quite a bit of writing to do before it’s a good length.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be chatting with Connie Dowell for the Book Echoes Podcast. The episode is tentatively scheduled for a July broadcast so look for it!

Finally, if you haven’t already, go see Wonder Woman. I’m not going to pretend it was an absolutely perfect film, but my personal quibbles are teeny-tiny and, ultimately, irrelevant. It got everything right where it counted, namely how it portrayed Diana and never forgetting that she was the hero of the story. Bonus: it has Robin “Princess Buttercup” Wright looking fierce and bad-ass — and at 51 years old, when Hollywood is too often ignoring perfectly capable actresses for any role, much less such an action-oriented one.

Weekly Update – May 30, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Freelance work, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Robin Hood’s Faire is over, and it was a great run. For the most part I’m spending today recovering, and this weekend I get to return to my regular writing schedule — which is good, because I’ve fallen behind.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Got a little work in and I’m within arm’s reach of the 50,000 work mark.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

It’s all official now, so I’d like to announce that I am writing a mud show script for an act that will appear at the Mutton & Mead Medieval Festival in Turners Fall, Massachusetts next month. Bonus: the lead performer is my friend Jen, who is also the narrator for my Action Figures audiobook!

Weekly Update – May 23, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Renaissance faires, Sharing The Love, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Another slowish week. It was a three-day weekend at Robin Hood’s Faire, but damn, was it a good weekend. Well, except for the fact it ended with a contact lens sliding up into my head and refusing to come out until I was halfway home. Good times.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Got a little work in and I’m within arm’s reach of the 50,000 work mark.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, third draft in process.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

Copyright Gia Publications Inc.

I’d like to give a shout-out to my friend Allyssa Norton, who provided the art for a new children’s book, Momma, Buy Me a China Doll (First Steps in Music series) by author John M. Feierabend. Her work is truly beautiful and she’s already been tapped to provide the art for a second children’s book. Go check her stuff out! Now! Do it. Doooo iiiiiiit.

Weekly Update – May 16, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Freelance work, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Another slow week, mostly due to the opening of Robin Hood’s Faire. One weekend down, two to go!

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: No progress since last week, but I’m planning to get back into it this week before packing up for a three-day weekend at RHF.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished, and I did a little work on draft three based on some feedback from a beta reader I wanted to get out of my head before I forgot it all. I ended up adding about 2,000 words to the manuscript.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

I’ve been tapped to write up a script for an independent renaissance faire act — a mud show, to be precise. I should be getting some info this week on what’s needed for the show.

Weekly Update – May 9, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Renaissance faires, Strongarm & Lightfoot, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Another slow week, but there is some stuff to report. Keep reading…

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: I had only one writing day this week but I managed to make the most of it. I am finally through a tough sequence and getting back into the story proper, and I’m creeping up on the 47,000 word mark. Woo!

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished. Another test reader weighed in, and his main note was, “You bastard.”

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording…is almost done! My narrator has just about finished things up and is polishing the recording a bit before sending it to me for review. My goal was to have this ready for a summer release and it’s looking like I might just realize that goal.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

It’s opening weekend of Robin Hood’s Faire in North Haven, CT, so if you are in the area, come visit and see a fun show that we’ve put a lot of hard work into. In particular, come and check out my awesome fight cast! Dave, John, Amy, Phil, and Samantha have done me proud in my first foray as fight director and I expect nothing less from them than brilliance and perfection.

The Robin Hood’s Faire cast. Photo by CT Hannon, Photoshop by Brian Harvard. And in case you’re wondering, I’m the guy on the right in the leather bullet helmet.

Weekly Update – May 2, 2017

On By ronsonbeckIn Action Figures, Event, Novels, Writing process, Young AdultLeave a comment

Bit of a slow week this week, and things stand to get even slower as opening weekend of Robin Hood’s Faire gets closer. We open it a little less than two weeks!

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Blades of Glory: Up to 45,000 words, coming up on another action sequence. They’re such time-sucks, but they’re so satisfying to finish.

Action Figures – Issue Seven: The Black End War: Second draft finished. My wife finished reading it over the weekend. One of her notes was, “Fuck you.” This was in fact a compliment.

Action Figures – Issue Eight: Crawling from the Wreckage: Second draft finished.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Rough plotting in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins: Audiobook recording in progress.

APPEARANCES and EVENTS

MISC.

I got nothin’.