Merry Christmas and Goodbye

See you all in 2025

Dearests,

It’s Christmas and it’s the first time in several years that I haven’t decorated or wrapped presents. Even during the pandemic, when we weren’t able to do anything but stare at the walls, I got out the plastic tree and the cheap ornaments and lighted the lights. This year it felt like a chore, so I decided that I needed to listen to how I felt and not push myself. I’m still celebrating but it’s been under a self-imposed minimalism. Perhaps that’s more in line with the reason for the season though.

I’m letting go of the material things to a certain extent. Letting go of the expectations and the need to get all wound up at this time of the year. All I want to do is rest. Because the fall, which just ended last Saturday, was a doozy. And that’s not necessarily bad but I have felt a sense of exhaustion lately…mainly from the job responsibilities and pressures, but also because I have a calling that requires me to work mornings and evenings on my writing after long days at the office.

December is also the anniversary month of both my parents’ deaths. My dad died on December 31 from a heart attack in 2022 and my mom died the year prior from cancer. It’s always a time where I feel this void where I once had parents. And while the pain is no longer as tender as it once was, it is always there. I have to contend with the vague ache of grief during a month that is supposed to be filled with merriment and festivities.

Where Have I Been?

As you have probably noticed, I haven’t updated the Substack newsletter for nearly a month. I was extremely busy from the last week of November until this past week. My play, “Yucca Mountain,” was selected by A Public fit Theatre Company to develop for a public reading. This required near-daily notes and revisions overnight while I also worked full time. I had to take a few days off from my job to be able to achieve this. I do wish I had the ability to write full time. But the play has a great concept and good bones so it wasn’t that difficult to juggle both my job and this project.

The reading took place Wednesday, December 11 in Las Vegas at Super Summer Theatre Studios to a completely packed audience. They needed to pull more seats to be able to fit everyone who showed up to see my play. I wasn’t expecting such a large turnout so I was really excited about this.

The play reading series is called A Playwrights Tirade, which back in 2018 was more of a come-as-you-are open mic thing, where actors would do a cold reading of a scene from anyone who submitted it in advance. I participated in this frequently by submitting portions of several plays I had written or was working on. There wasn’t a real end product of this version of the Tirade and the series ended during the lockdowns in 2020. This new version is fashioned to be an incubator for original, new work from Las Vegas-based playwrights. Black Mountain Institute partially funded it via its generous community project grants.

My play was chosen through a blind submission. I wasn’t certain I wanted to submit it for consideration. I knew it needed much more work, but I had put it away to work on two other scripts that are far more advanced than Yucca Mountain was. I’m very happy that I sent it to APf because it allowed me the chance to go through a play development process with feedback from artistic directors and a cast of professional actors. It’s gratifying to learn that your writing resonates with others.

After the reading, APf hosted The Buzz, which is a built-in discussion that they facilitate after every play they host. It was helpful for me to get a sense of what worked and what needed more work. I’ll likely revise the play again, especially around certain characters in the second act and around larger questions that aren’t resolved.

Here are some photos from the reading:

APf's cast reading my play Yucca Mountain.

The cast included actors Nicole Unger, Breon Jenay, Christopher Brown, Stephanie Mccue, Jamie Clay Brown, Amanda Guardado, and Joseph D. Kucan. The directors overseeing development of the play were Ann-Marie Pereth and Joseph D. Kucan, who are the Artistic Director and Producing Director of A Public fit Theatre Company.

The entire experience was fantastic, even if it only took place within the span of a week and a half. I really wanted to work longer with the cast and the directors on it because of how wonderful it was to collaborate on this creative project together. Very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a talented group of theater artists.

And, I have to say…December 11 as the date for the reading was fortuitous as it was also the anniversary of the last day I spent time with my mom in 2021. She died that evening or in the early morning on December 12. My husband said he believed that my mother was in the audience proudly watching the play reading. I hadn’t noticed the date until he brought it up.

So, fall 2024 was successful with Yucca Mountain’s development and the publication of my essay in the anthology Desert Superbloom: Las Vegas Writers on Scarcity and Abundance, which you can purchase via the link if you are interested in reading new work about Las Vegas.

And on top of all of this new work I’ve been writing towards one of my goals for the Wunderkammer I’m building here on Substack. In early 2024, I set out to reach 300 subscribers and, while that is a small number, it is a goal that I am only a few subscribers shy of accomplishing. That means I’ve had 200% growth since January. I consider 2024 a win for my creative writing goals. I hope 2025 will bring even more opportunities and wins.

Thank You

I can’t do this without you all though. It is with your generosity and your attention that I have been able to meet this internal goal for myself. Writing and publishing on Substack has created a momentum for me and I am grateful that I have been able to connect with you through this newsletter. I’m celebrating this and sending my gratitude to you, my dear readers. If you love my writing, please consider sharing and recommending this Substack and please reach out via comment or DM me. I love hearing from you.

Where Am I Going?

I am giving myself some time off from Substack and from being social online. I have a large work event in January that I am producing and project managing. It will require most of my energy but I’ll be back by early February with a Widdoes Peak interview with poet and writer Jennifer Battisti and some new writing I’ve been working on.

Before I go…I didn’t yet share the video of the essay that I read from the Desert Superbloom Nevada Humanities anthology, which took place in October this year. So here is a photo and the video below it:

Wishing you a merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and a happy new year! 🥳

xo,

Autumn