2011 Output

 (Anissa Lubbers in Curse the Darkness produced by the Lakeshore Players)

At the end of every year, I add up my inputs/outputs.  It's been a busy year.  Here's how 2011 worked out, output-wise:

• I completed a first draft of my new historical novel, which runs about 125,000 words (420 pages)
• Did a rewrite of my novel, Moving (A Life in Boxes), based on comments from my agent.
• Wrote two short audio plays for the Emerging America Festival (one of which was recorded--Another Brick in the Walk.)
• Wrote a new ten-minute romantic comedy, Newton's Call.
• Wrote a new ten-minute comedy, Organic Seed.
•  Wrote a new six-minute drama, Second Look.
• Wrote four one-minute plays for the One-Minute Play Festival (two will be produced this weekend).
• Revised my full-length drama, Flight, based on feedback from readings and workshops in DC, Idaho, and Boston.
• Wrote a bunch of blog posts on my three different blogs.
• I did a minor proof and edit of my novel, Tornado Siren, and published it as an ebook.
• I wrote screen adaptations for two of my ten-minute plays, Christmas Breaks and Measuring Matthew.  Measuring Matthew was filmed this fall and is currently being edited, for spring submission to film festivals.  I also adapted Christmas Breaks for radio, for a possible production sometime this year.
•  Started a new full-length play, Distant Neighbors.  (I have about 35 pages so far.)
• I did a minor revision of my full-length play, Fire on Earth, about the creation of the English Bible.

This feels like a pretty good list, a nice mix of playwriting, novel writing, and even screen and radio plays, as well as first draft writing and rewriting.  I certainly never had a chance to get bored.


Production-wise, 2011 wasn't bad.  The year saw dozens of productions by schools, through the various publishers that handle my work.   I still am finding it extremely difficult to land productions of full-length plays (none of my full-length plays were produced this year).

Productions/readings/publications of my work included:

• My full-length play, Flight, was read by the Madcap Players in DC.  It was scheduled for development at the Seven Devils Conference in Idaho, and also had a reading in Boston.
• Escape to Wonderland was produced in the the Madcap Players Winter Carnival in DC, in the Boston Theatre Marathon, and in New York's Estrogenius (I got to see all three productions!)
• Curse the Darkness won a couple competitions and was produced by the Lakeshore Players in Minnesota, by Black Box Theatre in Cranston, and got a reading from Chameleon Theatre Circle, also in Minnesota.
• Ship of Fools was in the Best of Ten by Ten in North Carolina.  (Which gave me an excuse for a visit.)
• My newest collection of short plays, Collected Obsessions (Eight Short Plays of Captivating Lunacy) was published by Brooklyn Publishers and Heuer.
• I sold a couple hundred ebooks of Tornado Siren for Kindle, Nook, and on SmashWords.  It wasn't a runaway hit, but a lot more people read it in 2011 than in the previous few years.  This made me happy.

Overall, I estimate that a minimum of 8,300 people heard, read, or saw my work this year, and I had more than 122 performances of my plays, which is not bad at all.

(Allison Vanouse and Meredith Stypinki, in the Escape to Wonderland at the Boston Theatre Marathon, directed by Jeff Mosser for Fort Point Theatre Channel)


In 2011, I also kept track of how I spent my time.  For me, tracking my writing time really helps provide a sense of accountability and encourages me to sit down at the computer and actually work.  This year, my goal was to spend 600 hours writing, though I also counted Rhombus meetings and readings/rehearsal of my work, since for that's sort of writing time, too.  I managed to log 602 hours this year.  (Next year, I'm tracking rehearsals and meetings separately.)

I also kept tabs on how many hours I spent marketing my work--216 hours (submissions and networking).

I spent about 200 hours in my gardens, and managed to grow 200 pounds of vegetables in each of the two private gardens (the amount grown in the 200 Foot Garden is a mystery).  I also spent more than 100 hours in volunteer time helping a couple different non-profit groups, as co-chair and board member.

All in all, 2011 was a busy and productive year.  2012 should be interesting, as I try to keep writing and marketing while also taking part in a farm training program and starting a small farm venture (Puddingstone Farm--more about this soon).