Month: April 2014

• An Indie-Author-Drama-Director Wannabe

  I love writing. No secret there. I love crafting stories, but I also love writing plays. And then I love producing those plays and bringing them to the stage. I have no business being a drama director. I have had no formal training in theatre and don’t pretend to know much. But experience is quite…

  sassevn

  April 30, 2014

  drama, Indie Author

  directing, drama, high school musicals, indie author, musicals, original musicals, play-writing, plays, theatre

• Know Your History: Germany is Split

  In the waning hours of WWII, Germany’s defeat was assured, but the make-up of post-war Europe was anything but certain. The Soviets pushed hard into Germany from the east and the remaining allies, USA, Britain, and others, moved in from the west. After Germany completely capitulated in May 1945, the Allies split the conquered foe…

  sassevn

  April 29, 2014

  History & Culture

  East Germany, NATO, Soviet, Soviet Bloc, Stalin, Warsaw Pact, WWII

• Indonesia & Music (Part I)

  The Indonesian archipelago, which is made up of thousands of islands spread over thousands miles off the coast of the Malay Peninsula, is one of the most populated and diverse nations on earth.   This heterogeneous society has experienced tremendous change over the last half of the twentieth century as it emerged as a post-colonial sovereign…

  sassevn

  April 28, 2014

  History & Culture

  gamelan, Indonesian music, Indonesian pop music, kroncong, music and culture, orkes melayu, soeharto, suharto, western influence on indonesia

• That Sinking Feeling that a New Novel is Almost Ready

  I spent part of the afternoon looking over some edits I received back from my proofreader for my third novel, The Reach of the Banyan Tree. As I was polishing some language and grammar, I found myself analyzing every word I had written. Sudden angst welled up within me, and I started to think that perhaps…

  sassevn

  April 27, 2014

  Indie Author, Writing Process

  ARC, beta readers, book publishing, editing process, indie author, novel release

• Inhibition or Criticism: Which will you choose?

  I was at a wonderfully produced high school banquet last night which had a Great Gatsby theme. It was all immensely fun as the evenings entertainment consisted of a series of skits which mimicked the time roaring 20s. They had one skit with the Marx Brothers, another with Houdini doing an escape trick, and, of…

  sassevn

  April 26, 2014

  drama, Indie Author

  creativity, criticism, Great Gatsby, high school performance, opening yourself up to criticism, overcoming inhibitions

• What does our grading system prove?

  I’ve been an educator for many years. I’ve thought long and hard about how to best assess students. How to be fair but tough. How to expect a lot out of my students. How it was all right for them to fail. After all, failure is necessary so kids can learn how to persevere and…

  sassevn

  April 25, 2014

  Life

  American grading system, assessing student learning, assessment, critique of grading system, education, grading system, learning disabilities

• A(nother) Parallel Between Acting & Writing

  Acting coach Larry Moss said: “Acting represents all that human beings experience, and if you want to be “nice” you will never be a serious communicator of the human experience.” Let’s see if we can substitute “writing” for “acting” and still have it make sense. Writing represents all that human beings experience, and if you…

  sassevn

  April 24, 2014

  Indie Author, Writing Process

  authentic writing, character development, drama and writing, larry moss, writing criticism

• Go Boldly! Go Indie!

  OK, indie authors. Time for a pep talk. Have you had a rough review lately? Shake it off! Have you been struggling to find time to write? It will come! Have you been upset by your lack of sales? Persevere! Have you found it more difficult in a crowded marketplace to stand out? Don’t give…

  sassevn

  April 23, 2014

  Indie Author

  difficulties of being an indie author, indie author, pep talk for indie authors

• Boardwalk Melody: What the actors are saying. (Part 1)

  A month from now, my brand-new musical that I wrote with my students will be debuting at the Penang Performing Arts Centre for three shows. We’ve been rehearsing hard since January, and now we’ll be kicking it up a notch to get ready for the show. I am extremely excited about it and very proud…

  sassevn

  April 22, 2014

  Current Events, drama

  boardwalk melody, malaysia, malaysian drama scene, musical, musical theatre, Penang, PenangPAC, what’s happening May Penang

• A Rebuke of Capitalism and a Counterargument

  Capitalism has taken its hits in recent years and not without cause. A while back I read Harry Braverman’s thought-provoking and thorough work about labor and capitalism. As I mention in the essay below, it should be required reading for all capitalist. Though his analysis of labor cannot really be argued with, I found myself…

  sassevn

  April 21, 2014

  History & Culture

  Braverman, capitalism, critique of capitalism, division of labor, Labor and Monopoly Capital