Wade Bradford’s Blog

Love this picture!

Guess what’s new and online?

Wade Bradford’s latest play is a comic homage to the suspense thrillers and adventure films of the 1930s and 40s. Beautiful, alluring, and none-too-bright Veronica Melville steps into an archeological site and stumbles into murderous schemes, tangled love affairs, and an ancient curse that will change her fate forever.

Now on sale! In print! And available in ebook form!

These teens at a YMCA International High school in Osaka seem to be having a good time. They actually change the ending, and to be honest it might be an improvement (albeit a slap to the justice system).

Hey there! My family is away this weekend, which means I have been left to my own devices, which means I have gone a little stir crazy and started digging out old projects of the past instead of working on my current ones.

And one of those projects is an ultra-low budget film I made with my dear friend and fellow creative (yet under-appreciated) genius: Joshua Eklund. We made this film back in 2004, and I finished the first edit in 2005… We never quite fixed all of the sound glitches, and it never made it to any festivals or anything. But I’ve always thought that this film is pretty darn funny, considering we made it for less than 500 bucks. (Along with some pizza and tacos for the cast and crew.)

Last night, after staying up way too late, I decided to put the whole darn thing on YouTube, just to see if anyone actually takes an interest in the film. So, without further ado, I present to you the world’s greatest western-comedy-philosophy-epic: Cowboys and Idiots.

Ah, the SCBWI Conference… so much fun. So many inspiring speeches. So many informative workshops. So many after-parties. So little sleep.

I loved connecting with old friends and meeting new authors and illustrators.

Oh, and I met my agent Mary Kole, live and in person! I think she really liked my latest project.

Maybe.

In short, the weekend was incredibly fun and fulfilling. But the party is over. Time to get back to writing.

I can’t believe it has been two years since I last attended the Society of Children’s Book writers and Illustrators. This organization has been the secret to what little success I have so far attained as a writer.

The people are great. The connections are invaluable. And the keynote speakers have never yet failed to inspire me.

I hope to see some fellow writers there! I’ll take along my trusty I-pad and blog from the event.

For the first time, I will be directing a play for the Canyon Theater Guild’s family season. It is an adaptation of one of France’s (and the World’s) most beloved books:

THE LITTLE PRINCE

Here is the audition information… I hope to see many of my theater friends there. (And make some new acquaintances as well!)

Director Wade Bradford is seeking the following for the Canyon Theatre Guild’s production of
The Little Prince:

3 – 5 Male actors (able to play ages ranging from late 20s to early 50s)

2 – 4 Female actors (any age)

4 – 8 Performers: Special Stage Ensemble

A Boy (or Young Woman) able to play the 11 year old “Little Prince”

1 Girl (able to play age 9 – 12)

Auditions will be cold readings from the script on
Monday & Tuesday, July 25 & 26 from 6 – 9 PM
at the Canyon Theatre Guild
24242 Main St., Newhall
Performances will be weekends Oct. 1 thru Oct. 30

Yes, I finally figured out how to convert Tomorrow’s Wish into an eBook (or an iBook?) so that it can now be read on your favorite Mac product.

Grab your iTunes gift card and READ TOMORROW’S WISH ON YOUR iPAD!

So far it has been a great summer. Since I am teaching a World Literature class, I am immersed in an ocean of poetry and prose, much out of my realm of expertise. It’s always fun to read new material.

And, my I-pad has one of the most awesome apps: Free Audio Books. Last month I began listening to a book I should have read a LONG time ago. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

Back in 7th grade, my English Teacher, Mrs. Johnson, tried her best to coerce me into reading this mammoth volume, but I just couldn’t get past all of those incredibly long sentences. (That’s what happens when you pay Victorian authors a penny for each word.)

But now that I have finally absorbed the novel, I am glad to have read Great Expectations — so many great characters, including the freakishly grudgeful Miss Havisham.

After Dickens, I moved onto an early 1900s novella called “The Agony Column.” An entertaining distraction with dashes of mystery and romance, and not much else — although it does paint of verbal portrait of London on the brink of World War I.

And now I am listening to Abandoned by William Clark Russell, which so far strikes me as a bit tedious and more than a bit sexist — but a fun read nonetheless.

And, of course, since I am always adding content to my About.com Guide to Plays and Drama, I am planning to read a few plays that I haven’t gotten around to consuming yet:

Uncle Vanya

How I Learned to Drive

and maybe

God of Carnage

Sometimes, after working very hard on a writing project…

I would get very frustrated about things…

Rejection letters, sloooow periods when editors, agents, and publishers don’t respond, those many moments when you want to write but can’t fin the time. It gets irksome. It makes you wonder if it is worth all of the time and energy.

Then something happens that makes me feel like Joe Cool.

Last night, my book reading went great. Burbank Barnes and Noble launched their summer reading program, featuring storytime (which involved me and my little picture book) and some magic (which involved a very nice writer named Diana S. Zimmerman).

After the reading, Diana and I sat at the entrance of the store, signing our books and chatting with customers. A mom and her two daughters stopped by our table, just to see what was going on. The mother liked the title of my book and showed it to her teenage daughter. Here’s what the teen girl said:

“Hey, Wade Bradford is the name of the person who wrote my monologue.” I found out she was referring to my monologue from Tomorrow’s Wish. It turns out she recently performed the monologue for her class, and got a good grade I believe.

I’ll admit, it was an awesome ego boost to randomly meet someone who had admired my plays while at the same time signing my picture book to the family.

Just thought I’d share. Now, back to the anxiety-ridden world of writing.