Danger Is My Business

NOTE: I know this post is late, and I am now back in Connecticut playing catch up. I will complete my daily journal on the residency over the next few days.

Sunday arrived and we knew there was quite a day ahead of us. This was the culmination of all the work we had been doing for three weeks, and we were all going to enjoy the end result of what both the writers and artists created. In short, today is what all of us were working for.

After breakfast, we began our studio tours in the village in what is called “The Yellow House.” It is one of the properties that the chateau owns in the village, and it exists primarily as an artist studio. There is also a lounge for artists to relax and step out of their creative space if they wish to. The chateau owns a number of properties in the village–not simply the studios, but a couple of galleries, the art store, and a few artist apartments. We started with the work on display at the Yellow House before making out way to the Stables–horse stables that have been converted into artist studios.

After that we made our way back to the chateau, for the third floor is entirely comprised on artist’s studios. I have to tell you that the work the visual artists created was phenomenal. All the work was different in approach and technique, a variety of mediums were explored, and a great deal of care was committed to each display. I was impressed and inspired by the quality of the work. Some of my favorite samples are below:

After the studio tours, we had lunch and then the writers’ presentations. There were twelve of us reading–some read stories, poems, and excerpts from novels. Much of it I was familiar with from the Writers’ Circles, but it was still great to hear the work that had gone into improving and completing the writings. We also had the reading of my play, “The Great Tidy,” with the help of Maddy, Tilly and Sommer. The three of them did a fantastic job, and the audience seemed to really enjoy themselves. I was incredibly pleased with the result.

The final writers presentation was from Ambrose, who shared his collaborative project. Early on in the residency, he requested a paragraph from all participants on the topic of “Beauty in the Mundane.” He assembled the entries into one document, and we read it round-robin style–the only caveat being we could not read our own paragraph. It was wonderful to hear all of the contributions, and to hear them all read out by different voices was a totally appropriate way to experience the project.

After the presentations, we did the photo on the steps of the chateau, which is a residency tradition. This was followed by a champagne celebration (I have eaten so much bread and cheese this month!) and then a celebratory dinner together. There was a number of additional socializing and conviviality both in the chateau and down at the stables. We had a little over a day left of the residency, but we all knew this was essentially the end. It was a celebration, yes, but I think most of us were sorry to see it end. I know I was.

Sunday is the big culmination: the tours of the studios in the morning, and the writer’s presentation in the afternoon. The staff was touring the artists’ studios for feedback, and to identify the piece of art the artists would leave behind for the chateau (an expected donation). For the writers, it was the last day to polish our work before Sunday, and to wrestle with the printers to create hard copies of work. The rule is clear: no one reads from a phone or a computer. Thus, the printer was running all day long, and it was mostly cooperative, despite Flora’s warning on the first day the printer had been “possessed by a demon.” This is particularly concerning in a town with an empty church. But at the end of the day, everything got finished, and both artists and writers were ready.

I had already printed the copies of my play, so happily I was already finished with the administrative part of the process. In the afternoon, I met with Tilly, Sommer and Maddie about the play. I was reading stage directions, but there were a few places where I wanted to remove some of my directions–I don’t have to say the characters “exchange a look.” The actors can do that without my description. I thought it would be a better experience for the audience. So, I clarified those edits and we read it again. I think they are all going to do a terrific job and I really can’t wait for the reading on Sunday. I am very touched by their enthusiasm and energy.

And I kept writing. I had found another unfished prompt response tucked in a corner of my Google drive. The prompt was “Someone needs to get out.” For some reason I had decided that it was a person in a laundromat trying to exit, but she was but blocked by two burly men who meant business. I don’t recall why I set it there, and where I was going with the story. So, I began the process of turning it into a short film script. I decided to keep in a laundromat, as that is a good, cheap, short film setting. I just have to figure out why she’s there and why those dudes won’t let her leave. We don’t head back to Paris until Tuesday morning, so I think I will have time to finish it before I leave.

When I went to bed, the moonlight was right outside my window. I took two photos–one with flash, one without. I like them both.

We headed into the final weekend of the residency, and everyone was working to meet the deadlines for the studio tours and the writer’s presentation on Sunday. I continued to work on the rescued writing prompt and turned it into a short film script. One I was surprisingly happy with. With that done, I have another prompt I am going to tackle as the final project of this residency. I should be able to complete that before we leave on Tuesday.

I spent some time on the island today, initially to do some reading. I have a copy of Madeline Sayet’s play “Where We Belong,” which I have seen performed. I had the great pleasure of meeting Madeline at the Mystic Film Festival a few years ago, and I was looking forward to revisiting her one-woman show. Instead, I decided to sit in the shade with my eyes closed, and listen to the water, the ducks, the muskrats, and the Eurasian coots. I did that for about an hour. Madeline’s play will have to wait until tomorrow.

There is a short trail leading down to the island that cuts through a forested area that is home to some great sculpture. Some pretty realistic, some a bit less so.

After dinner, we had another story time with Jacob (always good) and a few of us (Phil, Jill, Janine and Tilly) then took a walk up to the hill overlooking the town. It was a good way to finish the day, and the views were very pretty.

Tomorrow will be the day for the writers to finish up and print out their creations. It will also be the last day for the artists to finish up both their works and installations in their studios. It all culminates on Sunday. It’s almost here.

With just a few days to go, we are heading to our lasts. Today, was our final writer’s circle, which will be one of the many things I will miss. We had a lovely discussion about the wonderful story Sommer has been working on (she was the only one whose work he had yet to review) and then since we had Sommer, Tilly and Maddie together in one place, I gave them a copy of the play of mine they so graciously volunteered to read. We decided to do our very first read through right then and there. They seemed to enjoy reading the play and did a really good job. I am so grateful to have this level of support, and honored that these three excellent people are willing to do this for me. I am really looking forward to the reading on Sunday.

I started writing the unfinished prompt I had discovered in my Google archives. I thought it would make a good short film script, so I began the process of writing it. Essentially, I turned the prose prompt into a script, which means I have the setup written but I have no idea where it’s going to go. I remember Ray Bradbury talking about writing his great story, “The Veldt.” He describes running down the hallway with his characters, not knowing what they were going to find when they go there. That’s similar to how I feel. My protagonist is finding odd things left on his desk. First, it was cookies, now its cryptic notes hidden in destroyed office equipment. Who’s sending them and why? I don’t know yet. I’ll find out when I get there.

I have also been reading Denis Diderot’s “Philosophical Thoughts.” As I mentioned, Diderot’s family once owned this property, the chateau contains a portrait of him, and a gallery in the village is named in his honor. The book was in many ways his defense of deism, which seemed appropriate since I read a poem called “God Emeritus” as the open mic the other day. This poem is imagining what life would be like for the God of deism. So perhaps I am feeling Diderot’s spirit, which is why I chose that poem. As you can imagine, not all of catholic France appreciated Diderot’s religious musings. The book contains an afterword that is a transcript of the court decision to burn all copies of Diderot’s text. It’s the sort of thing I used to read and think to myself, “So glad I don’t live at a time when people would do that sort of thing…”

With that in mind, a quote from his book struck me as oddly prescient: “It is enough for truth to win if good people, few as they may be, receive it; but it is not in truth’s nature to please many.” Having no desire to leave you on such a solemn note, here is instead a photo of Dusty napping:

It’s hard to believe I have now been in France for two weeks. And I have only a week left of the residency! It is the absolute worst sort of cliche to say it, but time does move quickly.

And overall, in spite of some drama that the staff of the chateau dealt with swiftly and decisively, it has been a great experience. I am in a beautiful location with significant time to work. There are scheduled activities, which are useful, fun and not intrusive. And I have met some wonderful people. People I hope will remain my friends after our departure next week.

Later this week, we will have more writer’s circle meetings, an open mic performance (largely for the writers) and begin planning our writer’s showcase for Sunday. But right now, writers have time to continue to craft their work, and the visual artists are preparing for their final presentations and studio tours. The energy has shifted. Everyone can sense that we are winding down, and we are focusing on what we need to do to finish. We have accepted it will be over soon. Even if we don’t want it to be.

All of us, except Dusty. He will remain sovereign of this domain.

As for my writing, I completed the first draft of “The Dinosaur Thief,” and finished the revision of “October Surprise.” I now have the very excellent problem of having run out of things to work on. Everything I brought–even things I was unconvinced I would get to–are complete. So, I am going to spend the rest of the residency trying to figure out what new things I want to work on. And then do those.

On a completely unrelated note, I learned about an insect called the Eurasian Hummingbird Hawkmoth. This is absolutely the best name ever. I am a bit sad I missed the opportunity to use this name for my college era band. And like me, the Hawkmoth loves itself some lavender.

Today was a rather peaceful, uneventful day. No musical events, no stress, no spontaneous readings in the salon. It involved plenty of writing for me: I plugged ahead on the revision for “October Suprise”–it’s taking very good shape. I’m hoping it will be done tomorrow. I also wrote more of “The Dinosaur Thief.” That first draft is now at seventy pages.

I did bring a number of things to read with me. A brought plays (“Inherit the Wind,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Betrayal,” “Where we Belong,” “The West Side Waltz” and “Fool for Love.”) I brought poetry (Billy Collins’ “The Apple That Astonished Paris.”) I also brought a copy of Dennis Diderot’s philosophical musings, which is appropriate because he once stalked the rooms and hallways of this chateau. I also brought a copy of John Huston’s screenplay for ‘Treasure of the Sierra Madre.” This is one of my favorite Humphrey Bogart films–really, one of my favorite films, period. It’s one of the few films from his 40s and 50s heyday where he plays a completely irredeemable protagonist. He even told a friend “I play a real shit in this picture.”

What would make one of the biggest stars on earth want to play such an awful person at the height of his popularity? It had to be the writing. Well, it would have been for Bogart. He didn’t really care much for other actors–Lauren Bacall being the notable exception. At the commissary at Warner Brothers, if you needed to locate Bogart, you didn’t ask his costars. He was always hanging out with the writers. Huston was one of his favorites, so I wanted to read the script that got him fired up to play the horrid Fred C. Dobbs. Reading plays and screenplays is one of the best ways to learn and hone one’s craft. I knew all of these books would be ideal companions for my writing residency.

Of course, the environment in which I am reading certainly doesn’t hurt. This is my view at the pond, reading John Huston, on my fifth or sixth cup of Earl Grey. But really, who’s counting?

Although that title sounds a bit metaphorical, it is in fact what the writer’s cadre did today. I soldiered on with the first draft of my new screenplay and completed the revision of my television pilot. It still will require more work, but I finally have it structured the correct way. And I managed to trim about five pages off–always a good thing.

In the afternoon, Suzy, the writing director, took us through her business of writing seminar. It’s normally a class for her MFA students, but she kindly distilled it down to about two hours for us. I am not in the process of completing a novel or a nonfiction book, but it was still useful insight into the publishing industry, the challenge of locating an agent, and the benefits and demerits of small presses. Suzy, being a poet herself, also spent some time on the ins and outs of poetry publishing, which was very germane and helpful.

After dinner, Jacob did another reading from his story collection, and as usual, the story was compelling and entertaining. I stand by my 21sst century Rod Serling assessment for Jacob. The more I experience his writing, the more feel like the comparison is apt. It’s intensely annoying that Jacob is also a talented artist, costume and production designer. I can’t even resent him for all of his talents because he is a genuinely kind man.

So that was day thirteen. Below is a photo of what I thought was a great blue heron, but it turns out to be a grey heron. And I discovered there are actually two of them that frequent the pond. Seeing them in the tree, patiently awaiting the opportunity to achieve their goal is arguably a metaphor for success in the creative process. Needless to say, I am always happy to see them.

To say today was back to normal, would be to understate what a positive day it turned out to be. The morning and afternoon was normal for me–I continued to plug away at my new screenplay first draft and realized my television pilot needed to be completely restructured. I then began the process of pulling it apart for reassembly. All of that went well, but the real excitement occurred before dinner, which was called “the music soiree”

In the past, there have been musicians who have joined this residency primarily to focus on their composing and performance. We are all visual artists and writers, but it was clear that several of us also possess strong musical talent. It wasn’t simply people with musical skill performing some of their favorite covers–most of the music presented was original.

We began with Jill, a splendid visual artist who evidently has a history as a rock n roll grrrl. Playing guitar and ukele, she sang three songs including two originals. She is a powerhouse. Jill as then joined by Bridget and Sommer for a beautiful cover of an Amy Winehouse song.

Next up was Anandi, performing some of her original raps as Lil Stixxx (I am told she can be found on something called “Spotify.”). She went downstairs into the costume closet and selected a costume and a look. She performed with great confidence and intensity, and like all good raps, they got stuck in our heads. To put it mildly, her performance was something to behold.

Next to perform was Sapir, who sang an original song in Hebrew. She kindly shared copies of an English translation of her song, but it didn’t matter. Her emotional performance, sweet voice and the beautiful melody had most of us in tears. We may not have understood the words, but we knew exactly what she felt.

This was followed by our final duet, Alyssa and the return of Bridget. Like all of us, these two had only known each other a week, but their musical chemistry allowed them to write two songs together. Alyssa has been playing piano since she was five and had written piano chords she was unsure what to do with. She played them for Bridget, who wrote lyrics she could sing with the chords. The result was pure magic. After their songs, Alyssa sent us off to dinner with Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”

The excitement at dinner was palpable–we all understood we had been part of something remarkable. Although the timing was a coincidence, after the stress of the previous day, this is exactly what we needed. During the performance, another summer thunderstorm swept through the valley, and we were left with a rainbow.

There could be nothing better.