September 2, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

Face Off is hot off the press, and I am headed to Regina next Tuesday to pick up 200 copies. Facebook is such an awesome way of shoulder-tapping friends to keep them up to date on the book’s progress. I can hardly wait to see what people think of it – people who read Power Plays, people who haven’t read Power Plays. Should be an adventure!

Last night we started down the road to Lampman Community Theatre’s 11^th production – Painted Green – a tribute to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. We had 12 at auditions – with another 3 or 4 who were unable to make it. I have some revisions to do to the script before first rehearsal on Tuesday, and then it will become a work in progress. We already had some lines added last night!

Looks like everything is full steam ahead for performances on November 5, 6, and 7^th - possibly November 4^th as well if there is enough demand for tickets.

All this means is that it’s time to get back to some “real” writing.

I am re-formatting “A Pirate’s Tale” to send to an alternate play publisher. I should have that one in the mail next week.

But re-formatting does not count as real writing.

Not sure which project I want to immerse myself in at this point. I know I should pick one – and give it my full attention, instead of skipping back and forth between two or three.

So, which one will it be?

Posted in On Community Theatre, On Writing | No Comments »

August 22, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

It’s been a busy summer.

Two motorcycle trips – one to Victoria through beautiful B.C. (really, there’s no such thing as bad scenery there) and one to Sturgis, winding back home through Wyoming (specifically Yellowstone Park) and Montana.

Highlight from Trip #1: Driving alongside the Fraser River Canyon to Hell’s Gate. Simply magnificent.

Highlight from Trip #2: Taking the north-east exit out of Yellowstone - namely the Bear’s Tooth Pass. Randy and I went UP the pass last year on his Electra Glide (I left Snowflake back at the hotel). Twenty-seven years ago – while on our honeymoon - we came DOWN it in my Camaro. I had my eyes closed most of the way (no, I wasn’t driving) because of the switchbacks. It’s a steep descent, to say the least. Well, coming down it this time on Yogi was all in a day’s work, and the view is nothing short of breath-taking.

I am busy finishing up Paint It Green, my community theatre play for the fall. I feel like I’m short a subplot, and depending on the number of people I get out for auditions on September 1^st, I may add one more.

Face Off should be in my hands in the next few weeks. I’ve started up a Facebook page for those of you who might be interested in hearing about related events or posting comments.

My workout program continues. I had to take a few hiatuses because of the bike trips, but I am staying on the road to becoming stronger and healthier. I noticed a big difference on the bike trips . The core and upper arm exercises definitely helped on long pushes. We did Jasper to Saskatoon in one day, and I didn’t even feel tired at the end of it – despite the fact we battled wind most of the way.

I recently learned Sam Spud, Private Eye was performed by a school in New Zealand (too cool for words!). The Banes of Darkwood should arrive soon, as it has gone to print. Baker Plays graciously declined publishing A Pirate’s Tale, so I am sending them Bullyland – a significant change of pace from the two parodies they are publishing for me.

Well, if you have a minute, check out Face Off’s or Lampman Community Theatre’s Facebook pages. I do update them more frequently than this blog!

Posted in On Fitness, On Travel, On Community Theatre, On Writing | 1 Comment »

June 30, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

Blew it on the evening of Day 14. Drank coffee and couldn’t sleep, which messed me up for exercise on Day 15.Today (Day 16) I went golfing. Our foursome has a pact about not taking carts, so the walk was great exercise.Back on track tomorrow.Haven’t written a word this week, but maybe tomorrow . . .?

Posted in On Fitness, On Writing | 1 Comment »

June 27, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

It’s amazing how so many things in my life are interconnected – working late hours and weekends at my day job have had a detrimental effect on my physical fitness, writing career, and my relationships.

My daughter has recently embarked on a business venture as a personal trainer, and at the beginning of June, I decided to engage her services.

Between the two of us, we have developed a fitness routine that incorporates weight training, walking/running, and yoga.  We identified the factors which prevent me from getting regular exercise and found ways to circumvent them. As a result I am devoting at least a half hour a day to fitness.

I have decided to devote the best part of my day – between 7:00 – 10:00 a.m. to my health and writing.

The yoga definitely addresses the issues I have with flexibility and tension in my neck and back. It is a pleasure to incorporate this into my schedule three times a week. I have purchased several videos, each of which has a number of routines.

My fitness plan is very flexible, so I am not likely to get bored with it. I am also trying to keep an eye on the Canada Food Guide when I plan (yes, plan!) meals.

It’s all part of the same thing.

Get 8 hours sleep each night.

Drink lots of water.

Eat healthy.

Exercise a half hour each day.

Write 1000 words per day.

The trick to hanging in there is varying the type of activity and incorporating social outings like golf or curling, which are more fun than just sweating it out on the Bow-Flex.

As for the writing, I have been writing around 5000 words per week – a big improvement. Since I completed Face Off in April 2009, I have had difficulty committing myself to the two other manuscripts I have underway. Lately, Bad Girls Go to Sturgis really has my attention. I can see myself completing a draft of this one this summer if I can stay on track.

The Banes of Darkwood should be available sometime soon through Baker’s Plays (New York).

Face Off’s cover has been selected, and the editing is complete. I can’t wait to see the finished product this fall.

Which reminds me . . . there’s a third book in the trilogy which needs to be finished . . . and I have only written Chapter One.  Er – some of Chapter One. . .

 See you later!

Posted in On Fitness, On Life, On Writing | 1 Comment »

May 8, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

My how time flies. And all my good intentions of updating this blog weekly or bi-weekly or even monthly are flying out the window with it.

Busy? Yes, I’ve been busy. I have spoken in about 20 schools this year, most of them in Regina and Saskatoon. It’s been fun to get back in the classroom doing writing workshops with kids. It’s also been a steep learning curve on how to take the writing process and compress the first three steps into 50 minutes.

Face Off, the sequel to Power Plays, is nearly in the can. I have about 70 more pages of the proof to read, and then it’s off to the printer.  It shouldn’t be too long before I can post the first chapter on line, as well as an image of the cover.  It’s certainly been an amazing journey.

And speaking of amazing journeys, I recently learned a fellow member of my writers’ group is going to be published this summer. Marie Calder’s book The Other Side of War has been accepted by Borealis Press in Ontario. It seems they had her manuscript for four years because they lost it while they were moving. Marie was thunderstruck to receive a call from this publisher back in February. We are all delighted for her.

It just goes to show you . . .

. . . if  you’re a writer who’s experiencing rejection, don’t give up hope. If you keeping working hard, good things are bound to happen eventually.

Lately I’ve been working on my Sturgis murder mystery. I recently attended our annual writers’ retreat at the Mother Teresa Centre at Kenosee Lake, about an hour away from where I live. I managed to put down 7000 words in one weekend, writing Maria out of a corner she’s been stuck in for about two years. In her defence, it’s tough to solve a murder when the author keeps changing the murder victim. Maria certainly deserves an A for effort.

I really do want to finish this manuscript. I think I’ve been suffering from that classic writer’s ailment which has no name, but which manifests itself in this sentiment: “I shouldn’t even bother. It’ll never be as great as my vision of it.” Well, maybe it won’t, but at least it’ll be done!

Another project I have been playing around with is “Paint It Green”, my play for Lampman Community Theatre next fall. It’s a tribute to the Riders, which seems appropriate since 2010 marks the Riders’ 100^th anniversary. The play will explore Roughrider football as the one true religion that binds the people of this province, as well as the theme of envy.

That’s it for now. Hopefully I will be back soon with more writing news. In the meantime, check out www.maureenulrich.com for Chapter One of Face Off. It should be uploaded shortly.

Posted in On Writing | 1 Comment »

January 21, 2010 by maureen.ulrich.

Yes, it’s been a long time.

I would expect that many of you have moved on to other things, and by now are addicted to “American Idol” or “Jersey Shore” or the like.

But I have been busy.

First of all there’s Face-Off or Clutch and Grab or Dump and Chase or No-Contact – or whatever am I going to call this sequel to Power Plays? Not that I have the final say in any case.

I’ve edited the first 100 pages and with the help of my editor (who is a lovely person) I should be able to wade through the last 200 in a few weeks. I have some major re-writes to do on Chapters 6 and 12 – the Flashback Fiascos – which I should have foreseen. It’s interesting to go through the process of cutting – instead of adding scenes. It’s rather fun slashing away at drivel – especially when I thought I’d already eliminated quite a bit of it.

Work is work. The pumpjacks keep pumping, and the pipeliners keep pipelining, and the facilities guys keep renovating facilities, and so the reports just keep pouring in. Only once in four and a half years have I ever felt like I was wasting my time – and that was only two days ago. I got over it quickly, however. I do like my job, and something has to pay the bill for my new motorcycle because royalties and the Public Lending Commission sure won’t.

I have twelve presentations in Regina and Saskatoon next week –  nine readings (one at the Book and Brier in Regina on Tuesday evening!) and three workshops. I’m more than ready for all of them.

And lastly, I’ve been learning to skate.

You heard me.

Some people think I’m planning to play ladies’ senior hockey. I have, in fact, been seen at several practices.

What they don’t know is that I really have no inclination to ever play a game. I just want to learn how to skate like a hockey player, and the best way to do that at my age is to wear lots of protective equipment. From what I’ve seen of middle-aged women learning to skate, helmets and elbow pads and hockey pants are a necessity.

It’s interesting to be a student again. This hasn’t happened since I did a motorcycle safety course in 2004.  And what a humbling experience that was. 

As a classroom and Special Education teacher, I know all about the Adaptive Dimension, and I’ve been using it regularly on the ice. When the rest of the team does wind sprints, I skate straight down the ice – arriving at the same time as everyone else. When the rest of the team skates backwards from one end to another, I (you guessed it) skate forwards – and arrive at the same time as everyone else.

At last practice, a young boy helped me out by passing me a puck when I lost mine and giving me pointers on how to hold my stick. I could definitely use a fulltime teacher’s aide.

And the looks I get from my coaches. . .

Pained. That’s what they call it.

And there’s another thing. I have yet to find a stick of the proper length.  My husband has given me two sticks already – both of which weren’t long enough. The girls on the team told me so. My husband said each time, “It’s good enough.”

I don’t think he is taking this whole learning to skate thing seriously.

For instance, he wanted me to learn to skate on my daughter’s skates  – even though they were too small and hurt my feet. “They’re good enough,” he said.

Well, they weren’t, and so I bought myself a brand new pair. A pair especially designed for people with weak ankles. They are marvelous, and I love them.

If I was satisfied with “good enough,” I would be content to make my way from one end of the ice to other , off balance and unable to stop. That is definitely not good enough for me.

Skating is great exercise, and I hope to do a lot of it over the course of the next few months. The ice will only be in for so long as the rink, and I definitely have my work cut out for me.

And so do my hockey coaches.

Posted in On Sports, On Writing | 3 Comments »

November 6, 2009 by maureen.ulrich.

One more sleep until Mitch’s Crossroads Café takes the stage.

It’s incredible to me to see how my actors have transformed themselves.

It’s one thing to become an alien or a Central American despot. But this time around my cast is playing ordinary people from a small Saskatchewan community – and they look so unlike themselves I have to remind myself I wrote this play.

Alma leaves all vestiges of my long time friend Sandy at the dressing room door. All this is accomplished with red hair spray, an alternate hair-style, make-up, gaudy earrings, and an enhanced bustline – and of course – piercing sarcasm, dished up Alma-style.

When Glenn enters wearing his bandana, peace symbol, and fringed vest, I forget he’s our new neighbour and the guy who built most of our set. In the early days of rehearsal, he seemed tense – definitely out of his comfort zone. But in the last two rehearsals, I saw him begin to relax into Bert’s character, and I began to think that maybe he is enjoying himself after all.                        

I can’t find a trace of Ed, the sweet bachelor, in Ray the Biker. Ray swaggers about in his head rag, braid, leather jacket, and tattoo sleeve, trying in vain to pick up Alma. There’s just something about a guy with an earring.

And then there’s Melanie, who makes me believe she’s the immature 19-year old she’s portraying. I always say Melanie could play any character in any play. And Zoe is no exception.

I can’t wait to see it all unfold before our audiences this weekend.

It’s going to be something very special.

Posted in On Community Theatre, On Writing | 1 Comment »

October 22, 2009 by maureen.ulrich.

You’ll recall that Sam Spud: Private Eye arrived in the mail last week.

Yesterday I received an email from Baker’s Plays indicating they would be willing to publish The Banes of Darkwood Hall AKA A Splash of Horror.  A contract will arrive shortly, and when it does, I will submit ANOTHER play when I return the contract – as I did last time. This seems to help speed up the process.

So – what play will I submit? Or plays?

I am thinking A Pirate’s Tale or possibly one of my Christmas productions – like The Swensons’ Christmas or Follow That Star.

So by this time next year I could have doubled my number of published works to four.

Now that’s definitely made my week.

I have to say, I do not care for the title — The Banes of Darkwood. I am definitely open to suggestion on this one. 

I did presentations at Loreburn Central School and John Cuelenaere Public Library in Prince Albert today and yesterday.

When people ask me if I miss teaching, I always say the book presentations help make up for it. But after talking to Grade 7 and 8 students on these two occasions, I have to say – I really miss being in the classroom. No, I don’t miss the marking and the prep and the staff meetings and the bells, but I do miss interacting with all those runaway hormones.

But, back to writing . . .

For the next few months, I am going to turn my attention to marketing some plays – and that will mean making revisions to them to reduce the number of characters. Most theatre companies – whether amateur or professional are looking for smaller casts. At one time we had no difficulty getting 16 – 18 adults out for our community theatre production. Now we struggle to find 9.

Mitch’s Crossroads Café goes on stage in nearly two weeks. And it looks like it’ll be sold out for the dinner theatres on Friday and Saturday night. We can’t wait!

Posted in On Student Productions, On Community Theatre, On Writing | 1 Comment »

October 16, 2009 by maureen.ulrich.

A long awaited parcel arrived in the mail today.

Sam Spud: Private Eye — AKA Splash of Mystery for those of you who remember EJH productions from yesteryear – has finally been published by Baker Plays out of New York. Baker is affiliated with Samuel French in Canada.

This brings my official publication list to . . .

. . . two items.

I sent Baker a second manuscript a year ago – The Banes of Darkwood AKA  Splash of Horror. We’ll see how that one fares.

Rehearsals for Mitch’s Crossroads Café are going well. We have five left before Play Week, which entails three dress rehearsals and three performances. Our plans for set are coming together – with minimal expense. There’s great satisfaction to be gained from making things out of nothing for little or no money.

So, the posters are up, the advertising is out, the T-shirts and anniversary mugs are on the press, and now the search for our audience begins. We know our loyal supporters will find their way to their seats, but it wouldn’t matter if we performed for just a handful of them. We’ve learned over the years that we are truly doing this for ourselves . . .

And to help support the Lampman High School drama club . . .

And the Lampman Hospital Auxiliary . . .

And the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency . . .

So let’s hope for a good turnout!

Posted in On Student Productions, On Community Theatre, On Writing | 3 Comments »

September 9, 2009 by maureen.ulrich.

This month I am embarking on my first community theatre effort in four years. The cast is nearly in place, and rehearsals begin in earnest tonight.

We perform November 6th – 8^th.  I would like to do dinner theatre on Friday and Saturday night and then have our usual Sunday matinee with home-made pies.  

 I started writing this play about a year and a half ago, and it has undergone many changes. My daughters told me the first version was far too dark for an audience expecting light entertainment after consuming a heavy meal – and they were right, as usual. I have lightened this version up a great deal.

This comedy-drama explores a number of themes: friendship, forgiveness, change. Past and future are juxtaposed, as are inertia and movement, youth and age, strength and weakness.

Jeanie is the owner of Mitch’s Crossroads Café, an establishment which rides the rollercoaster of boom and bust on the prairies. Jeanie is tied to her past with Mitch, whose influence is still seen in the café’s interior design and menu. Mitch’s ghost inhabits the fridge, which is found at center stage, and he rattles the beer bottles inside whenever he’s ticked about something.

Alma is Jeanie’s cook, waitress, and friend. Alma has ghosts of her own – thanks to her battles with alcoholism and spousal abuse. Alma has emerged through all of this with her wry sense of humour intact, but she has lost her children along the way.

Zoe, at nineteen, still hasn’t found herself, but she comes looking. When Jeanie hires her, Zoe has already had numerous jobs and proven to be a disaster at all of them. She naively endures Alma’s harsh criticism, and emerges stronger for it.

Check in later to hear about more characters . . .

Posted in On Community Theatre, On Writing | 1 Comment »