This has been a weird week. And next week should be an exciting one, too. Whenever my routine gets rocked in any way, it throws me off. That’s certainly the case this week. Not in a bad way though, in a good way.
There is a cable network TV show that is doing some filming nearby. I have never heard of the show. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as I know next to nothing about what’s on TV. I’ve reached the point in my life where how I spend my time is important, and watching cable network TV usually doesn’t fall in that category. However, this particular show is filming winter scenes in the woods and what better place to do that than the Adirondacks. So, this massive (in my eyes, anyway) production company set up in the forest to take advantage of the visuals provided by our Eden of the north. And what visuals! I write this on Wednesday, 3/14/23. Those of you that are local know how much snow we’ve been hit with in the last 2 days. I think these people were stunned by it. They looked a bit shell-shocked, but I have to say they handled it well.
Why do I raise the topic of the show? Because they were looking for locals to provide warm bodies in background scenes and I made the cut. Exactly why I did is a mystery to me, but hey, stardom is a crazy thing. You just have to embrace it when it comes your way. They also provided lodging for the week in an upscale hotel if you wanted it. I did. Being a character on a TV show (no matter how miniscule that character ends up being) would be new experience for me, so I said what the hell. Let’s do it.
Want to know about the show? Its name? the channel? where they filmed? what I did? Whelp, I can’t tell you. Everything thing is super-duper, double-secret. I lost count of the number of times and ways this was stated in the electronic documents I had to sign. We were told not to bring phones because they didn’t want to risk annoying chirps, or people taking pictures and making calls during filming. Some people smuggled theirs in, though. I was among this group. Not because I’m some rules-flaunting maverick, but simply because I forgot to leave it at the hotel. But, no details for you. However, I think I can risk a couple general observations.
The first being, it was BORING. A huge amount of time is spent sitting around waiting for someone to tell you where to sit/stand/walk. Since this was an exterior shoot, that meant a lot of time standing in the snow just doing…nothing. And by a lot of time I’m talking 5 or 6 hours. Standing. Waiting. Thank God with all the snow it was visually so stunning; at least I could enjoy that. Also, this army of people, and it was a lot of people, really knew what they were doing. I initially believed what I was witnessing was complete chaos, but the more I watched, the more it looked like an organized chaos. Hats off to that filming crew. I know they had probably never witnessed weather like this before, but they soldiered on.
That’s about it as far as what I can share. I get the impression some gorilla could show up and wrestle the phone from my hand if I even give a hint of trying to share what’s going on, or a black van with tinted windows might appear in my driveway to drag me away for a waterboarding session. I swear, it’s like they’re safeguarding the plans for the first atomic bomb or the secret formula for original Coke. I’d better keep my mouth shut or I’ll be living the rest of my life looking for a laser dot on my chest.
My other news is that next week, Wednesday, March 22nd at 7:00, I will be speaking at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts as part of the Lake Placid Historical Society’s Winter Lecture Series. I’ll be there along with another author, Scott Curry. I know the words “lecture series” probably don’t conjure up too many warm and cuddly feelings, but I promise I have no plans to just talk at people for 90 minutes. What we hope to do is address questions members of the audience might have concerning writing in general, the process Scott or I employ while writing, as well as the steps we go through when publishing our own work. A lot have people have asked me questions pertaining to these topics and I hope I can offer some enlightenment.
I will speak briefly about some of the trials I went through while publishing my first two books, Beneath the Surface and Disturbing the Dead. Also, how the process has changed and what it’s like now, as I approach publication of the third, the sequel to Beneath the Surface. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but I can assure you, I have made many, many mistakes that maybe, by sharing them, you can avoid.
If you are unable to attend, but would still like to see what happens, there is a zoom link available. This is the registration link. https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtd–vrz4rH9fq-ckgB4bRlAvqD03itrav
So, from rubbing elbows with the stars to sharing the ins and outs of the indie-writing world. It’s going to be a very full week or so!
