So we already talked about the One Act that represented the first 11 pages of my Screnzy 100. But what is the bulk of my page count about.

Script #2: The Muppet Play

When I was in college, a year after I wrote The Author, I started another novella. I was going along pretty good with it when my adviser told me that novellas were a waste of time. Now this whole conversation was much longer and was mostly about The Author but the end result was that I walked away realizing that the story I was working on wasn’t going to be long enough to be a novel but was too long for a short story so, like The Author, it was going to be “unpublishable.”

So from 2002 to 2010, the story of that novella has been gestating in my head. Amusingly enough, the story is about someone who is many years out of college, trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life. This is funny, of course, because when I started it, I was still in college and thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Now, I am actually in the same place as the characters which makes it that much easier to write. Of course, I know what I want to do with my life but, handily, my brother does not so I have many hours of conversations with him on this topic to draw upon. So, in many ways, it’s better I waited as I am more equipped to write this story now then when I started it.

I also went back and forth over the years as to whether the story should stay prose or become a stage play. In recent years, I’ve leaned much more towards making it a play though I still go back and forth. I figured if I committed to writing the whole thing as a play, at least I’d have the whole story down and could more easily convert to prose later if I wished. So I decided to make this my Screnzy play this year. It has a working title but let’s call it The Muppet Play for blog purposes.

Because, see, the play also deals with the Muppets. Of course, on the surface, the Muppet connection isn’t apparent. The story isn’t about the Muppets and, aside from one character that is a fan, they aren’t really a part of the story. But, to me, the Muppets are what this play is about. I think of this play as “Riffs on The Muppet Movie and Especially I’m Going to Go Back There Someday.” I’m Going to Go Back There Someday is a song that Gonzo sings in the film and it is very deep and abstract and the best way I can explain this play is that I listened to that song and this play is my interpretation of what that song means to me. If for some reason you have never heard this, greatest of Muppet songs, you can listen to it here.

I wasn’t sure how long this play would be, especially since it was originally written to be a novella but the 45 page mark was the end of Act 1 so I certainly seems like it will be near the 100 page mark all told. I am still not 100% sure that a stage play is the best way of doing this story but its working so far.

Of course, this play needs to be all about subtly and understated things to work and as you may expect, my first draft is very bull in a china shop but I’m OK with that. Second Draft Hillary is a much better writer than First Draft Hillary, what’s important now is getting it all down. I have my moments where I am afraid I’m not a good enough writer to pull this play off but I think parts of it are very good and it has the potential to be really great once finished.

So, anyway, as promised, that is what I am working on for Script Frenzy. As you see my page count change these last days of the challenge, know that The Muppet Play is what I am working on.

OK, I numbered all of your comments on my One World One Hearth give-a-way and let a random number generator pick a winner so I couldn’t play favorites.

So the winners are…. (drum roll, please)

Thank you to everyone who played and thank you for stopping by my blog! It was lovely meeting all of you.

If you haven’t already subscribed to this blog or followed me on Twitter (@HillaryDePiano) so we can keep in touch, please do so!

And if you didn’t win a copy of The Love of Three Oranges or The Author, you can grab one on Amazon.

So my friend Diana (who makes freaking awesome jewelry, you should check her stuff out over here) gave me a heads up about One World One Heart, which is basically a yearly community building web tradition. The idea behind it is, you offer something as a free prize and Lisa from A Whimsical Bohemian adds you to the directory of participating sites. Therefore, other participants and just people looking for a free give-a-way will come and visit your site giving you a chance to find new readers, meet new people and discover new blogs.

If you have a blog, all you need to do to play along is to post about your give-a-way on your blog. The official entry details can be found here.

If you don’t have a blog or otherwise have nothing to give-a-way, you can still play along by entering some of the give-a-ways and getting some free stuff. People like free stuff, it’s a fact.  Just go to this page and pick any site from the list on the right hand navbar. There are some really cool crafts and other nifty stuff up for grabs so it’s worth a look. And you may find some cool new blogs to follow and people to chat with online.

So, that’s what’s going on. As you likely guessed from the title, I’m going to join in this little web party myself.

For those of you only visiting for One World One Heart, let’s take a moment to get to know each other. Hi! I’m Hillary DePiano. I’m a fiction and non-fiction author. I also am obsessed with The Muppets, The Sims and My Little Pony. These things keep me off the streets. Over here on this blog (Unpublishable Pennings) I write about writing but I actually write for several other blogs including The Whine Seller (e-commerce and selling online), My Little Pony Collecting.com (take a wild guess what that one is about) and The Cult of Cummings (voice-over actor Jim Cummings fan site.) I’m also on Twitter here and Facebook here. Feel free to fan or follow me on either and say hello!

The book I am most known for is The Love of Three Oranges which is a play (for the theatre) that has been performed all over the world. My newest book is The Author which is a novella that is part mystery, part thriller, part comedy. It’s won some awards so apparently people like it. I have other books but these are the two that are up for grab today. You can see the full list of the books I’ve written here.

Here are the terms of my give-a-way:

• I am going to pick two random winners from the people who comment on this post. 
• The only rule is that, in your comment below, you have to introduce yourself. It can be only a few sentences but, since the point of this is to get to know other bloggers, just give me an idea of who you are, what you do and where I can find you (link to blog, Twitter, etc).
• Those two winners will have their choice between a printed copy of The Author (my newest book, a novella) or The Love of Three Oranges (a play and also my oldest book). 
• Your comment has to contain valid contact info so I can contact you if you win. My comment system lets you log in through just about anything so just make sure it’s a valid email address, link to your site or Twitter, Facebook, whatever otherwise I won’t be able to contact you to send you the prize. You don’t have to post it in the comment, as long as you log in with valid info, I can see it on the admin side. Just no made up info is all I ask. 
• The contest is worldwide. Anyone from anywhere can enter. I will mail the winner a copy of the book they choose.
• My family cannot enter (sorry). But since this is totally random, my friends can enter if they want since it will be impossible for me to show favoritism. Enemies may also enter if they so desire. So as long as you are not closely related to me, jump on in!

Keep in mind that everyone who comes to this blog will read your comments so you aren’t just introducing yourself to me, you’re introducing yourself to The World so keep that in mind.

So, as we covered, I’m Hillary. And you are. . .