A great post that encourages self-reflection as an author.
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Author Archives: Don Massenzio
Getting Back Into a Writing Frame of Mind
I’m writing this post today to kind of hold my feet to the fire. I’ve jumped back into writing and, like everything else I do, I tend to jump in with both feet (and both arms and legs), but not always with my head and brain.
As of write now, I have three major writing projects in progress in the book realm along with screenplay and stage play ideas.
The three book ideas are the most fully formed and I thought I would use my blog posts to float my ideas out there. Not necessarily for viability, but more for revealing where my creativity is flowing and where my head is at these days.
Today, I’ll briefly talk about my first work in process. It was inspired by my role in the play A Christmas Carol this past Christmas season.
The star of the show is, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge. We meet him in his full-fledged ‘Bah Humbug’ mode after the play opens with the death of Jacob Marley. I had the pleasure of playing Marley’s ghost and realized that Marley was a significant influence in Scrooge’s life in his adulthood.
I always like to create backstories in my mind for the characters in the plays in which I appear and this was certainly no exception.
Scrooge is introduced in the classic book by Dickens as a bitter miser who hates Christmas. There are other clues into his psyche in the book, however. Scrooge lives meagerly and we get glimpses into his childhood and young adulthood.
What we don’t see, however, is his early upbringing, family history and the sentinel events that turned him into the man we meet in the book but eventually see radically change into a generous and caring person.
My book will delve into these aspects of Scrooge’s life and attempt to explain his evolution.
I know it sounds ambitious, but there is plenty of research out there along with fictional and factual psychological theories. I want to pull these into an entertaining narrative and, maybe eventually, a play.
Stay tuned for the next couple of posts as I talk about my other works in progress.
It’s good to be blogging again!
Where Have I Been for the Past 2+ Years
It has been over two years since I’ve posted anything original on my blog. That ends today. Before I tell you what I’ve been up to during this time, I want to start with why I’m coming back. There are multiple reasons, but the first of them is the looming “threat” of artificial intelligence or “AI”.
I downloaded the Chat GPT app to my phone and the first thing I asked it was “Who is Don Massenzio?”
Here is what I received as a reply:
As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, Don Massenzio is an author who has written several books, particularly in the crime fiction and thriller genres. He has authored books like “Frankly Speaking,” “Let Me Be Frank,” and “Blood Orange.” He has also written a series featuring a character named Frank Rozzani, a private investigator.
That’s a pretty good start, but the next paragraph disturbed me a bit.
Don Massenzio might have continued to write more books or expand his presence in the writing world since then, but I wouldn’t have information about any developments beyond September 2021. If you’re looking for the most up-to-date information about Don Massenzio, I recommend checking his official website, social media profiles, or book retailers for the latest updates on his work.
It shows that, since September of 2021, I have faded into obscurity. That’s about the last time I published any original writing. Reading that paragraph indicates to me that AI either thinks I’ve faded into obscurity of I have gone on to the great blogosphere in the sky. Neither is true, but it does send me a powerful message.
My creativity, however, has not diminished during the past two years, it has only changed direction. Part of this is due to my new working situation. In February of 2021, I took a job that allows me to work at home full time. I love the job and the lack of 45+ weeks of travel that I’ve endured for the previous 10 years. During that travel time, however, I wrote and published 10 books. During the time that I’ve been working at home, I’ve published zero books.
I think that, being at home is partially to blame. For one, family time has filled the void of lonely travel that I used to have. My youngest is now 15 and when I’m not transporting her and her friends around to various malls, movies and restaurants, I’m trying to spend time with her while she still wants to hang out with her old dad.
In addition, my time has been filled with another pursuit. I’ve become involved in theater. It started when I attended Annie at a local community theater 5 years ago. It was their inaugural show and I took my wife and daughter to see it. The leads were an actual father and daughter playing Daddy Warbucks and Annie. My daughter was 10 at the time and I thought about how great it would be if I could be in a show with her some time if only I wasn’t traveling so much.
Fast forward to two and a half years ago and I was now working at home and that same theater had auditions for Elf the Musical. My daughter convinced me to give it a try. I was intimidated and nervous, but tried to set an example for her to give her confidence.
Well, we were both cast and I, at 58 years old, was cast as Santa, the character that opens the show and sings the first song.
The show was a lot of work and I decided that, even though I enjoyed it immensely, I would only do one or two per year.
Now, a year and a half later, I just completed my 7th show playing characters ranging from the Ghost of Jacob Marley to Mr. Mushnik in Little Shop of Horrors (quite the challenge). I’ve also written and directed a one act play (to be published here soon) and am music director for the Disney musical, Newsies, which will be presented in October. I’m also a member of the theater’s board of directors.
So much for one to two shows per year.
Anyway, the bottom line of this post is to say that I miss writing and publishing books and am getting back to it. Maybe not at the same 2-3 books per year pace that I was at before, but I have at least two works in progress that I will be publishing in the near term.
I don’t want AI to think I’ve disappeared from the face of the earth. I will be clawing my way back into relevance.
I also miss the interaction with this blogging community and will be gradually increasing my activity and get back to informational posts and maybe even some author interviews like I’ve done in the past.
I hope that you welcome me back and are patient with me as I reanimate my writing and creative endeavors.
Watch this space…I’m coming back
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Shock, horror: paranoid schizophrenic steps outside – Guest Post by Anne Goodwin…
Check out this great post from the Story Reading Ape blog titled: Shock, horror: paranoid schizophrenic steps outside – Guest Post by Anne Goodwin
Several years ago, after a family tragedy raised a mountain of unresolved personal issues, I succumbed to a virus – no, not that one! – I couldn’t shake off. My GP recommended a couple of weeks’ sick leave, which stretched to six. When I need a sick note, we quibbled over the diagnosis: he proposed anxiety, I thought depression. I can’t recall who won.
It didn’t matter. Taking myself out for walks between bouts of crying, I didn’t have to drag along an unattractive tag, such as“the depressive” or “the anxiety state”. Not so the people I worked with, whose more serious diagnoses smothered their other identities. Schoolteacher, skater, Scorpio stripped away once they qualified as “schizophrenic”.
This would be less controversial if the mental patient identity defined them only within services. Diagnosis is a ticket to treatment and care. But it extends far wider. Witness the media response when…
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How Not To Start A New Book
Check out this great post with some valuable advice from A.J. Alexander’s blog titled: How Not To Start A New Book
As many of you already know, my writing process is a bit unorthodox. With the books so far written in my ‘The Council Of Twelve’ series, I generally worked as follows:
1. Preparation (develop characters and update character sheets)
2. Draft plot and take notes
3. Start writing the first draft of the book by hand
4. Read the first draft, make necessary corrections in red
5. Type the corrected draft into the computer
6. Personal editing I
7. Personal editing II
9. Send book to the editor
10. Additional steps after the book is returned to me, fully proofread, edited, and formatted…
‘The Council of Twelve’ series is published with four books, and books 5 and 6 are written and prepared to be published. I have an additional book connected to the series currently with my editor. Book 7 is in my personal editing; books 8 and 9 are…
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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Weekly News – #Reviews – #Fantasy K.M. Allan, #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, #Poetry Colleen M. Chesebro
Head over to the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore for the Weekly News featuring K.M. Allan, C.S. Boyack, and Colleen M. Chesebro
5 Steps to Creating a Unique Character Voice – From the Writers in the Storm Blog
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
Create unique character voices by varying how they communicate with other characters.
I’m one of those writers who needs to put my characters through a first draft before I figure out who they really are. Tossing them into trouble and watching how they wrangle their way out of it helps me get to know them. Their dialogue and voices are usually interchangeable at first. It’s more about what they say than how they say it, or even why they say it.
The voices usually come to me as I write, and by the end of the first draft, I’ve written snippets of voice that let me see and hear the characters. On draft two, I develop those snippets into fleshed-out characters.
Since I don’t hear my characters first (like many writers do), I make conscious choices about their voices, and craft them same as I do a setting or the plot. Which keeps my authorial nose out of my character’s business, and lets them be who they are—not extensions of who I am. Characters who all sound like the protagonist or the author is a common first-draft issue for a lot of writers.
Read the rest of this post HERE.
Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #YA #Magic #Mystery – Bloodstone (The Curse Of Time Book 1) by M.J. Mallon
Head over to the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore to check out a New Book on the Shelves featuring Bloodstone (The Curse Of Time Book 1) by M.J. Mallon
#TenThingsYouMayNotKnow – About Sue Rovens
Head over to The Write Stuff blog for today’s post featuring Ten Things You May Not Know About author, Sue Rovens
Author Don Massenzio 