The Joy of STAGE MOMS!!! BROUGHT TO YOU BY THOMAS

This week has really been a bit of a crazy mess. I have been to two different sets of auditions for our daughter, not to mention to start of a new year of ballet classes. The first audition, being the annual production of The Nutcracker, and the second Annie. I hate going to these, in fact I often try to bribe Veronica to go in my place, but alas I had to go to both. However, I have found that even though these things take hours out of my day and I generally end up dreading the thought of being there. those crazy STAGE MOMS always make me laugh.

If you know anything about the life of an actor, or if you have watched TV at all, you know the extremes of what these moms do. We have all heard the stories of the screaming moms tearing into directors or choreographers, or the ones that push their children to the point of breaking. I have also witnessed firsthand the mom chowing down on McDonald's and doughnuts, while feeding their ballerina daughters nothing, but dry carrot sticks and only letting them drink water so they will be skinny enough to play Clara, or the moms that will do anything(and I mean ANYTHING) to get their children a part. Although, some of these are scary to think about they are worse to be involved with directly, some of these moms have been right in my face as a director for a show. Still they are not the ones that I want to talk about really...even though they give me plenty of material to work with.

Like I said before these STAGE MOMS make me laugh, I like the ones that are just over the top enough to be on the funny end of things. For instance, the moms that have the same contemporary haircut as their daughters ,because it makes them look like sisters, or for some reason makes them believe they will get their own ticket into the world of modeling and acting side by side with their child. This kind of mom is not harmful like the previous ones, although their children may argue differently with me, but still no one is being threatened. Last night I got to witness the whole variety of these types of funny moms. I saw two kicked out of the auditorium for sneaking in to watch their daughters dance for a role in ANNIE, and then I watched them immediately walk up the stairs and try to get in through the balcony entrance. There was also a group of moms standing around plotting car pooling because they knew which one of their daughters would be Annie and the others orphans for sure, even though over 150 children were auditioning for 26 total roles. Yet, these moms already had it figured out before auditions even started. Lastly, somehow I got to be part of a discussion from a group of moms that were all wanting my opinion on the song their children should be singing for an audition, because I had been talking to a friend of ours explaining it was not the best idea to have her niece sing HARD KNOCK LIFE. I somehow became a guru for these moms and they all thought I had the magic key and would not stop asking for it until I told them that as a director I never wanted to hear the same song, sung badly by 90 kids and that I would pick the kid that dared to sing something different even if they weren't the best...and then I got watch the moms scramble through their Broadway Song Books looking for a new song five minutes before their children walked into sing.

Now, as funny as these moms were, the ones of Saturday was just as hilarious to me. The Nutcracker is a mess all of its own, and Ballet Moms are a special breed too. These moms will try to sabotage the other children by bringing cookies, brownies, cake, doughnuts everything you can imagine to eat...but you will notice their daughters never touch the stuff. The studio were the auditions were held, made for a very interesting experience for me this year. The rooms have very small 2'X2' viewing window, but the blinds had been pulled and about a three inch gap remained. In this little gap, moms were pushing and nudging, but nicely no meanies here, to get an eye full of the glory of the heavenly view of the inside of the studio where their daughters were dancing. Although, you could see what was happening none of it made any since to them, because what the saw were girls standing in a line being told to sit, stand, walk, stop, stand, walk, sit, stand, and sit again. However, from this little slat of a glorious viewing arena the cast had been selected in several of their minds. These moms congratulated each other. announcing the titles of the characters fellow moms would be proud to have for their daughters, and they began discussing gifts they should look into buying for the show.

Now, don't get me wrong, I am one of the proudest dads in the world when Cloudya lands a role or gets an audition for a national commercial. Still, I can honestly say that when I see these moms twice a week, and more during rehearsals, every time I simply end up shaking my head and wondering what in the world we have done to ourselves. Cloudya being the child that wants to be on stage and having two parents with a strong background in the arts does not have the edge that these moms think they are giving their daughters. Instead, Cloudya will forever have to suffer with the mother that says "Well honey if you want to do it go ahead and audition, but remember you may not get the part you want, or you may not get one at all" not to to mention having a father that does not want to go to auditions except to stare and laugh at all the crazy STAGE MOMS full on in their antics.

So just remember moms that I might be there and I will be watching you and more then likely I will write about you

Working and Writing

After two months of what seemed like a plethora of writing time, I had to head back to the real world this week. Yes, it's true, the doctor okayed me to go back to work. So, needless to say on Friday morning I got up at six in the morning and headed back to my local Wal-mart. Now the real challenge becomes, not killing my creative time. After all, this summer I've written two short screenplays, a full length and finished my novel. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty productive time.

Pre-published authors all deal with the same situation. How do you balance working a full-time job(in my case 60 hours a week), your family and attempting to write a screenplay that "might" win an Academy Award someday? The truth is I'm not the greatest example of dealing with the balancing act. For years, I put off my writing using my job and family commitments as an excuse and that's exactly what it was, an excuse. All my life I loved to write; I often got teased for having a notebook(pre-laptop days) permanently attached to my hand.

So in the last couple of years, I've really put the peddle to to the metal. At first, when I got back into the writing groove I set a goal for myself. It was simple: Write everyday! It sounded easy at the time, but it wasn't. After awhile I've mastered it. I may only conquer a paragraph or I could tackle a whole chapter. Nowadays, if I don't do something in the process, I feel like I cheated myself. In fact, last night I attempted it, to go to bed without writing even a sentence. That lasted for about thirty minutes, when I couldn't turn my creative brain off. So, I flipped on the light, grabbed my notebook(I keep one by the bed) and jotted down some of the ideas I'd been batting around for my next project. It was a nice try.

Then there is the kids, since my work does keep me away from them, every free moment I can spend with them is precious. It doesn't answer the question of: When do you write? I like to jot stuff down throughout the day, but the process needs, a process. When my beloved little ones go to bed at nine o'clock, I get my time to hit the computer for a while. In the two hours, I have before my own bedtime I work out what I can. On my days off, which are usually during the week, I spend extra quality time on my projects. This year my goal is too get myself on a timeline, as in to set specific goals that I would like to get accomplished each week.

To sum it all up, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. My process isn't perfect, but it will have to work until I join the ranks of the published. For all of you writers out there who are doing the same juggling act, keep at it! I write, because I learned along time ago that I couldn't live without it and when I tried I was miserable.

Editing Bliss

The editing process and I have a love-hate relationship. I adore the fact that I've reached a milestone and completed my manuscript, but I loathe the ripping apart of it and then comes the attempt to put it back together. However, the project has to go on. This part of the writing process is almost as important as the writing itself. One shouldn't stop and sit back as soon as a project is "complete." After all its not really done until you've put the polishing touches on it. Then you have to ask yourself what you wrote it for in the first place. Did you spend months possibly years working on something that no one else will ever read? Seems like a big waste doesn't it. Sure we're artists and we are known for having self esteem issues. But I say get over it and get done.
After editing get that query letter ready to mail out to agents. Once their in the mail begin work on the next project or you'll go mad waiting. Take rejection with a grain of salt. Agents are humans, believe it or not and each of them have their own taste and style just like we do.
Kudos to those out there that have taken that step towards getting published. Its a grueling process, but in the end it pays off. For those of you who have that project growing dust on your shelf, because you don't want to polish her off, shame on you. You'll never know if you don't try.

American Girl...that pretty much sums it up!

It's been more than a week since my last real post and I apologize for that sincerely. As it seems my life was somewhat monopolized this week between trying to finish my novel and by Cloudya's agent. So looking back I am happy to report that Amidst the Fog has finally been completed and so much of me feels a great sense of accomplishment.

The most exciting news though came when we learned our daughter had an audition for the American Girl franchise. After several phone calls with her agent, who is out of Chicago, we learned that this audition would include a multitude of opportunities. Initially, it will be photo shoots for the magazine and Christmas catalog, but will stem the chance for them to use her in the actual movies and possibly creating a doll in her likeness. I personally thought that alone was pretty cool!

My beautiful red-haired nine year old is my biggest concern. As of late she tends to mope around the house seeming to be depressed. Nothing seems to get her out of it including appearances from her beloved Nick Jonas on television. Her main focus seems to have nothing to do with anything except playing outside which I understand is normal for her age. Of course, playing outside in our area consists of grabbing a video camera and shooting a movie until the sun sets or practicing their latest band moves in my garage.

Then of course there is always rejection, which unfortunately she has yet to learn to shake off with a grain of salt. It's a hard thing to do no matter what age you are and some never learn to do it. She's visited every agent in the Omaha area and walked away with no representation. Everyone of them unafraid to say in front of her that they didn't necessarily find her marketable. Okay, so each market is different and we've learned this from being so involved in theater all of our life. So, we decided to see what other areas would think about our Cloudya, who so much wanted to be an actress. We began to submit her dazzling smile to agents in Chicago. All it took was a month and she had obtained representation. The mom in fights the urge to rub it in our local agent's faces, but after all I am a professional.Since then she's auditioned for several movies. Recently, it seems like she is getting more and more attention from the agency which is a positive thing.

However, this trip is mainly for a photo shot which means of course they will ultimately be judging her appearance. I know it racks her little nerves and she is terrified that she will stand incorrectly or whatever. Today I've whipped out picture albums to remind her of where she's come from and no matter what they decide she is perfect in every way. In the world of entertainment which is loaded with criticism it is important to compliment and praise a person.

So tomorrow we will take off to the windy city and see what opportunity it lands her. Included today you will find various pictures of Cloudya attached to this and I hope they make you smile as they always do me.

Daily Horoscope

This was my horoscope for today...maybe it knew I would be finishing my book today:

Continuing the high energy portion of the month, Capricorn, you may feel like you are in your element today. Recent successes give cause for celebration, or at the lease a sense of satisfaction that makes for a pleasant day. There also seems to be an ambitious streak in the day's musings or activities, that show you as either being engaged in a competitive activity, or planning for the next big task that you take on, at which you will be successful.

Madison Croughlin

Did you know according to statistics four million women in the United States are currently married to a gay man? No...Elizabeth Reaser is not one of them, but the lead female character in my current novel was. Madison Croughlin is next in our line of characters from my almost finished novel Amidst the Fog. Most of you know this actress as the mother of a bunch of teen Twilight vampires. Esme, who in my opinion doesn't get the screen time she deserves is the matriarch of the Cullen Clan. Now all you people out there assume that I would chose Elizabeth, because she happens to be in Twilight are incorrect. Remember I started the project several years ago. While deciding who to visual base my lead female character, Elizabeth was a supporting role on the TV show Grey's Anatomy. Something about her calm and mild demeanor made her the perfect choice for Madison.

Its five years since her husband left her for another man and Madison finds herself going through the motions of life. She works because she has to and takes care of her kids the best a single mom can. When her mother in law pleads with her to help organize her annual charity masquerade she is unable to decline.

When her mother in law begins to weave her matchmaker spell the two find it hard to stay away from each other. Everyone from Madison’s kids to her employees get in on the mission. My novel will take Madison on an emotional battle with depression, angry, healing and finally forgiveness, but will she ever be able to love again?

Meet Darren Matthews

Meet Darren Matthews, okay, the pictures are really of actor Eric Bana. As most of you know I have been working on a new and old project entitled Amidst the Fog. Several years ago when I first began the character work on the project I needed to find someone who would help me visualize one of my characters.

One afternoon my daughter was watching the movie Troy. She has loved that movie forever and everytime she gets a chance watches it. Anyway, before Achilles comes to kill Hector, he shows his wife a secret way out of the city and it was in that moment that my character was truly born.

Growing up in a movie laden society has created monsters such as me that need something visually to relate to. There's nothing wrong with it at all. So yesterday, we get the new Men's Health magazine and who's on the cover? You guessed it. Eric Bana. Now that I'm reworking this project he proudly sits next to my computer. Maybe a little inspiration, but also a guilty pleasure since really he's not too rough on the eyes.

Truly meet Darren Matthews, a veteran NHL player who has been traded to a rookie-laden team. He's the typical tall dark and handsome type, but isn't afraid to let the stubble show through. His dad was a hard working FBI agent. On the night of his first NHL game his dad was gunned down in a sting that went bad. He watched as his once love-stricken mother wasted away to a cold and bitter human being. After that he swore off any kind of relationships at all. That is until he meets Madison Croughlin. To be Continued...