Gotta Get My Peacocks Somehow...

The bullet points of the last couple of months:

- Started a new business, doing boutique bartending for events, called Booze Époque 
-  Booked a really successful show with Gregory Ferreira and Friends at Porch Fest
- Started working with Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys and Jaggery. 
- Been attending a writing workshop, but unfortunately that suffered over the last couple of weeks due to some crazy life stuff coming up.  Back on that horse once I get business stuff in order. 

Life continues to fly by with many exciting ups and downs.  I’ll be on the west coast for most of August (and part of June).  So stay tuned for more shenanigans as I approach my one year anniversary of leaving NU to pursue my dreams.

This is the Booze Époque business card.

Abby Taylor and I are Co-managing Lifestyle!  Check out a couple of shots from the photo shoot today with sexy ladies Lyndsey and Ashley.

I’ve finally created my Artist Management FB page here: GGMPS, LLC.

In the next couple of weeks I’ll be getting ggmps.us up and running!

Exciting things on the horizon!

Thanks to Sky Winchester for the beautiful image below.  I’ll be using it on my FB and business cards:

I’m also working with Live By The Sword Studios, check them out (and the great art work by Jax!):

I’m plunging headlong into Spring with renewed vigor.  My writing productivity over the last month has been pretty dismal, but I had a great conversation with Derek, a friend and great writer, about polishing what I’ve got so far and sending it out just to get some feedback.  I think it’s the jump start I need to reinvigorate the process.

Needless to say, my extremely ambitious goal of finishing by April is absolutely not going to be met.  And I’m pretty okay with that. I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks polishing off some of the first chapters and I’ll likely post an excerpt here and then get to work mailing sections out.  

I’ve never been much of a performer, although I have absolutely no problem getting up in front of a crowd.  So after attending a great reading, here&now:mortality, put together by my friend and multi-dimensionally talented artist, Jade Sylvan I have been inspired to put some writing together for public consumption.  It didn’t hurt that all of the writers came back to my house and burned their work in a beautiful ceremony in my backyard (bringing the spirt of Burning Man to me!). This will be a summer project, but again, another kick in the ass to get my work out there.  Hold me accountable, okay?  I haven’t read in front of a crowd that wasn’t a workshop or class since high school coffee houses.

I’ve read a handful of pretty cool YA books lately, and they’ve been keeping the wheels turning, I recommend these three for sure:

Management business on the other hand has been growing more and more steadily.  I’ve started to make a concerted effort to get out and network in the music community, and it’s giving me a nice dose of socialization that I thrive on.  

I’ve met some great ladies involved in the Ladies and Girls Rock Campaign, which is an incredible program. I plan to volunteer for one of the Girls Rock Campaign Summer Sessions.  If you haven’t heard of the Rock Campaigns definitely check out their website.  I feel like their mission, “to help build self-esteem and leadership skills for girls through music education and performance.  We hope to stimulate and enrich the communities surrounding us and provide space to foster and showcase that power”, is so inline with everything that I’m doing, and I could totally see Violet, the protagonist in my novel (or me) being part of this program.

I’ve had a couple of meetings with a very talented band over the past week and it’s looking like I’ll be working with them soon.  I don’t want to make any sort of announcement until that’s official, but needless to say I’m really excited to be part of their team.

Missing Ships has been working really hard on their upcoming album French Vanilla. And I spent a very long and late night listening to some tracks last week and it sounds huge and bold and fun and stunning.  The night culminated in me video recording Greg and Sky painting the album artwork on a sheet of paper taped to the wall, until I was too tired to do it at 5:30 a.m.  Here’s a still:

So I’ve been brainstorming and booking and updating all of the MS web presence. We now have a Missing Ships Bandcamp too. So since late January I’ve really been buckling down to make sure every thing runs smoothly.

Next on the menu, get my GGMPS website up and running, get my new business cards ordered and make good use of the longer days and warmer nights of Spring.

Oh and on a final note, congrats to my husband’s band, Cooling Towers, on getting into the WZLX Rock N’ Roll Rumble!

It could be a record-breaking afternoon in the book world. Today, Christie’s New York will auction off a copy of John James Audubon’s Birds of America, which already holds the title of most valuable printed book in the world, having sold for about $11.5 million in 2010. In fact, according to The Economist, a true list of the ten most valuable single books ever sold would have to include five copies of The Birds of America. Though Christie’s is playing their cards close to the vest and estimating a $7 to $10 million sale, today could see a new record for the book. After all, the copy that sold for $11.5 million was estimated at less than the copy on auction today.

To help you brush up on your knowledge of the very old and very valuable, we’ve compiled a list of the ten most expensive books ever sold — no white gloves necessary. Click through for an overview, and then head upstairs to check your attics for any forgotten dusty tomes — you could be a millionaire and not even know it.

See more here: http://flavorwire.com/251055/the-10-most-expensive-books-in-the-world

One of my goals for the New Year was to test out some new writing venues.  While writing at Niner Bravo has been productive I felt that it would be helpful to have some external stimulation.  Niner Bravo is a bit of a windowless cave. So I decided to try writing in different venues around the city and did so last week.  It was so successful that next week I’m going out on the town again.

The process was better than expected and I ended up writing 6000-7000 words over the week which is a VERY good week for me.  As I mentioned, I am SLOW.  

Here’s a run down of my Cafe a Day adventure around Boston and Cambridge.  I think I’ll be hitting up Somerville and Allston next week so look out!

DAY ONE: Tealuxe, Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA
Beverage of Choice: Lemongrass Tea and Chaider 
Work Completed:  Major edits to chapters one, two and six and 1500 new words outside of those chapters.

Let me admit that unlike most writers I don’t drink coffee (LOVE the taste, can’t handle the caffeine).  So Tealuxe is like a dream to me. I’ve been going there since High School and it holds a lot of memories, plus the musty dark wood and perfumed air really awaken my inner goth.  A portion of my novel takes place in Harvard Square, why it never occurred for me to write here before is beyond me.  It’s also a place that’s laden with so many of my adolescent memories, and I try to get in tune with that whenever I write.  I didn’t realize that just being in Harvard would bring back more pulsing nostalgia than listening to Mazzy Star or the Pixies or Nirvana.  Consequently I was filled with words.

DAY TWO: Espresso Royale, Commonwealth Ave, Boston MA 
Beverage of Choice: Rooibos Latte 
Work Completed: Editing of Monday’s new work, ~700 new words 

Day two was a bit of a rush as I had some errands to run in the morning, a hockey game at Fenway and a movie (HUGO) in the afternoon.  But I wanted to make sure I got some solid writing time.  It was pretty blissful at ERC, right next to BU, because all the students were on Christmas break.  I like the ERC over near Northeastern University a little bit better as it has a grungy art school vibe much more so than this one. I’ll probably hit that one up next week.

DAY THREE: Boston Common Coffee Company, Washington St, Boston, MA
Beverage of Choice: Earl Grey Tea
Work Completed: ~700 Words 

I was actually aiming for The Thinking Cup which I had been to once before but it was completely packed. So I opted for BCCC which was around the corner.

I had a really hard time getting into the groove in this place.  Maybe because I had my sites set on The Thinking Cup, which has a slightly more homey vibe.  I take singing lessons at the Steinway Building on Tremont Street and these are the only two independent cafes in the area.  As far as I can tell BCCC is an independent shop, yet it definitely has a sterile corporate vibe despite the art work and plush couches.  If I’m going to be writing before singing class I’m going to have to find a way to either fall in love with this place or force myself into The Thinking Cup even if it means taking out a couple of Emerson students in the process.

DAY FOUR: Andala Cafe, Central Square, Cambridge, MA 
Beverage of Choice: Peppermint Tea 
Work Completed:  ~2000 new words

Andala is a beautiful cafe on the cusp of Central Square.  It’s the closest to my house but I’ve only been there two or three times in all my years living in the area.  Truthfully I spend a lot more time in bars than cafes, which is something I’m working to change. I’m trading in the rock n’ roll, at least for these few months, for the full-time literary life.  I’ll still do some management tasks here and there but my goal is to get this book done by April, May at the lastest so it will require a measure of abstinence in certain areas.  Maybe that’s as counterintuitive as my not drinking coffee, but I’ve never been much good at writing with booze in my hand.

Anyway, Andala aesthetically is a great match for me.  It’s filled with beautiful light fixtures and gorgeous windows and wall hangings.  They staff is attentive but the whole place has a leisurely feel.  I really liked working here and went back on Sunday night to get some reading done.  Living in a college town can make finding seats in a cafe pretty difficult but Andala typically seems to have at least some seating.  And you cannot beat the delicious goat cheese and fruit plate (you can see it sneaking into my photo above).

DAY FIVE: Blue State Cafe, Commonwealth Ave, Boston MA
Beverage of Choice: Peppermint Tea (again) 
Work Completed: ~1500 new words 

I was slightly hesitant to try this place.  Even though I am flaming Massachusetts liberal the name rubbed me the wrong way (I know *so* superficial). But again, owing to the college students still being on break this was a really pleasant place to work.  It’s right next door to BU so I don’t know that I’ll be visiting it again unless it’s Spring Break or Summer but I set myself up by the counter and it was a quiet and mellow place to work.  

It’s pretty bright in there, which is not usually my scene, but the staff was so friendly and the music was so good that I got into a groove pretty quickly.  Having the young energy of the staff (at most of these places) has also been great inspiration in channeling my young adult energy.  On the way over the BU bridge home I had a powerful insight into my main character Violet, so a very productive endeavor indeed.

I think getting away from my normal environment and out into the world is something I’ve got to do far more often.  I’m going to ensure I write outside of Niner Bravo at least once a week, and I’d like to spend a week a month exploring more writing spots around the city.  Once the weather is nice again this can expand to outdoor parks or sidewalk seating.

I think, just to carry the momentum that I’ll be Cafe hopping again next week.  So you’ll all get the run down, maybe in less detail.  I also plan to talk about some new YA books I’ve been reading.  I got a Kindle for Xmas and as much as I love REAL books it’s been a wonderful portable friend.