BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

This past Friday (the 20th), I started doing a live reading of my latest novel "Street 
Candles", on Google Hangouts. Every week, at 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time, I'll read a new 
chapter or two, and then hold a friendly chat afterward. I intend to read the entire book 
on-air, and Friday represented the first live performance of any kind that I've done in 
about twenty years. There were five or six people watching, and it was really like the old 
days -- including the rinky-dink production standards. I had a number of production-related 
issues, which ultimately culminated in no video of the hangout being uploaded to YouTube 
(which is what's supposed to happen automatically after a Hangout).

I screwed that part of it up pretty badly. It was the part I expected to go wrong, and it 
did, because it was the part I had the least practice with. I rehearsed reading Chapter 01 
all week, but the technical aspect of running a Hangout got scant attention. The fact is, I 
have no one I can practice that part on/with, so I'll just have to learn as I go. 
Eventually, I want it all to just fly, but it will take time to learn.

I believe my performance was half-way decent, considering how rusty I am at playing to an 
audience, and how much of an info-dump the chapter itself is. I had been worried about 
making it interesting, but the people that signed in were very cool, and seemed willing to 
give me the benefit of the doubt. I guess that makes them fans.

Imagine that!

The truth of the matter, of course, is that I neither expect to have fans, nor deserve any. 
Not yet. Not until I actually produce a product worth anyone's interest. So far, all I have 
is a novella and a promise of a longer story. That takes some serious faith (though I 
figured Friday night was good anyway, because the friggin' Internet dies on Fridays, and 
people might not have anything else to do), and all I can do is my best to see that it's 
been well-placed.

I had a few flubs here and there, but that doesn't really matter. This was a much cleaner 
read than any recording out in my make-shift audio booth would have been, mostly due to all 
the rehearsal time. There really is no substitute for that.

And, I get to do this again and again. Sooner or later, it will have to come together. Even 
as scattered as it all was, was a positive experience. So, I guess I'll do it again. Why 
not? I got nothing going on Friday nights.

Sunday, September 22, 2013
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